


Elemental

by Shandibeary



Category: GOT7
Genre: A veeery little bit of 2Jae snuck in there, Action, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Drama, Elemental Magic, M/M, Minor Violence, Romance, powers!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-03-29 20:52:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 32,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19027705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shandibeary/pseuds/Shandibeary
Summary: Prince Jinyoung is one of five elementals that people worship as if they were deities. However, despite all the admiration and luxury, the friends and family, the power and the fame, Jinyoung still feels like something is missing. Until a chance encounter that may not be so random makes him feel alive for the first time in his life.





	1. Chapter I

**Author's Note:**

> Finally another fic yo!  
> I've been posting this fic on AFF and I meant to cross-post it here, but I completely forgot OTL  
> So, I'm gonna post the first 4 chapters over the next few days (to catch up to AFF) and then I'll update both when I do chapter 5, which will be on Sunday.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy ~ <3

The parades held annually for the Elemental Princes were always beautiful. There were bright lights, people dancing, good food, good music, pretty outfits - it was just an all-round good time for everyone involved.

But as soon as the sky lit up with an explosion of colors to kick off the celebrations that year, Mark knew that he could not put up with this any longer.

"This could've been over by now." Jaebum spoke under his breath, so as to not cause any suspicion from the bystanders near them, “Why are we still waiting?”

"We're waiting until we actually have a solid plan." Mark replied, “What do you suggest we do? Rush a bunch of elementals and hope they pity us enough to lie back and let us murder them?”

“Don’t sass me, Mark.” The other man glared, “I’m just sick of this.”

“I know. Me too. But there’s not a whole lot we can do now. We need to come up with some sort of strategy or we’ll ruin our only chance.”

Jaebum sighed in frustration, "Well, that's your forte. Let me know when you manage to seduce a prince or turn them against each other somehow." With that, he walked away from the other man, leaving Mark to watch the parade on his own.

The same thing happened every year like clockwork. The Elemental Princes were paraded by on big, fancy, over the top floats.

The first to come by - in the bright blue and white float - was always Jackson, the Ice Prince. He was both the oldest and the most powerful of the five and never let anyone forget it. He was loud, boisterous and _loved_ to wave to the crowd and pump everyone up.

Mark found it infuriating really...

Behind him was a contrastingly dark and gloomy float carrying the Prince of Darkness: Jinyoung. He always looked like he didn't want any part of this. Like he was forced to be there. He clearly hated the fanfare and never waved to or even _looked_ at a single person throughout the entire parade.

Jinyoung was the one Mark was most interested in. Partly because he seemed to despise the whole 'Elemental Princes Being Worshipped Like Gods' thing just as much as Mark himself did. But also because the darkness was unnaturally exciting to him.

Before Mark could dwell too much on his rapid heartbeat and the itch in his fingers that occurred every time he saw the Prince of Darkness, the next float was already passing by.

This was Youngjae. He was the healer among them and was held in pretty high regard because of his unique power. The five of them were commonly referred to as the 'Elemental Princes', but Youngjae didn't have a specific element, unlike his comrades, and that seemed to make him all the more special to the people. But equally as much of an annoyance to Mark.

After Youngjae was BamBam. He was more like Jackson than any of the others. He was also loud and loved attention but, unlike Jackson, he didn't seem to have the power or the sense to be of any real use to the kingdom. His element was earth and his childishness caused him to do stupid things with his power sometimes, like creating an earthquake for the hell of it or making a huge sculpture of his face out of the ground and the vegetation.

Finally, the last prince, bringing up the rear, was the water elemental, Yugyeom. He was laid back and actually kinda likeable, but he was still a prince and Mark was sure he was yet to release his full power. That was worrying. He had the potential to become more powerful than even Jackson was...

There were more floats behind them, filled with dancers and more spectacles, but Mark had seen enough at that point and turned around, deciding he should probably go and find Jaebum before he set Jackson's float alight or something.

 

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

 

Jinyoung didn't understand why this whole celebration had to last more than a day. If everyone really _had_ to celebrate the existence of five people, surely they could have had just one day a year dedicated to it.

But no, year after year, Jinyoung had to sit through four days of doing nothing but being fawned over and he hated it.

He understood that the five of them were special, sure. Not everyone had the abilities that they had. But he had been stared at and tiptoed around and treated like he was some delicate glass being that everyone loved but also didn't trust to do anything by himself lest he fall over and break.

It was maddening.

The second night of the festival was something he particularly despised. The first day was about celebrating and, although Jinyoung couldn't stand people cheering at him, it was easy enough to just zone out and ignore it, to some extent.

The second day, however, was about socializing.

Aristocrats and those with excellent social standing brought their sons and daughters to a gathering at the palace in a desperate attempt to woo one of the princes and ultimately marry into royalty. It was how generations of Elemental Princes and Princesses found their partners and even Jinyoung’s father was one such person, pushed by his parents to charm someone - _anyone_ \- into marriage or into bed, whether or not there was any love involved was completely optional.

It was bad enough fending off everyone's advances in the past, worse now that he was secretly engaged to his best friend.

Well, it wasn't a total secret and they weren't even officially engaged. That, like everything else in Jinyoung's life, was arranged by the court. He and Jackson had been inseparable since they were kids and there was a lot of talk amongst the court about having them get married for the sake of making the people happy. Elemental royalty almost _never_ married each other, but the two princes were loved by the people and they clearly cared very deeply for each other. Their potential marriage was saved for a time when morale amongst the people was low and they needed something to rejoice about and, hopefully, restore their faith in the kingdom.

Thanks to that, they had obviously wondered what it would be like if they were in a real relationship and slowly began acting – and feeling - less like friends and more like lovers. However... there was still something off. Something incompatible about them that Jinyoung just could not put his finger on.

Not that he would voice those thoughts to anyone. When the time came, he would just shut his mouth and do what was ‘best for him and best for the people’ like the sheep he was trained to be his whole life.

“You've been sitting by yourself all night, My Lord.” A middle aged woman - somebody's mother, most likely - commented with a large, fake smile on her face, breaching Jinyoung's little bubble of personal space, “My daughter is just like you; quiet as a mouse. She's been too shy to talk to anyone tonight, you two will get along.”

Jinyoung just barely managed not to scoff right in the woman's face because what she just said was bullshit. He may have been by himself in his own lonely corner the whole night, but he had been watching. He had seen her walk in with that daughter of hers who had almost immediately walked up to Yugyeom and attached herself to his arm for a good hour, gushing over every word coming out of his mouth before, from what Jinyoung could deduce, he told her he wasn't interested. She then quickly moved on to her next conquest.

“Thank you, but I think I'm just gonna stay here by myself. I'm not feeling so well tonight.” The Prince of Darkness replied, trying his best to remain polite.

That wasn't a complete lie. He did feel slightly sick to his stomach when that very same girl that was previously Yugyeom’s biggest fan ran her hand down Jackson's body, brushing daringly over his crotch before he had stepped out of her reach as respectfully as possible.

'Too shy’...

“Oh no.” The woman placed a hand on her chest in exaggerated concern. Jinyoung had to clench his fists to stop himself from cringing. “You know, sometimes when you're sick, it's better to take your mind off it by having some fun. You don't feel it as much that way. You stay here, I'll tell her to come talk to you. Maybe you'll feel better by the end of it.”

Before Jinyoung had a chance to protest, the woman was already on her way towards the crowd of people and her daughter who, since being rejected by Jackson, looked like she was plotting who her next target would be. If her mother had anything to do with it, Jinyoung himself would be next. Lovely...

Deciding that he would not - _could_ not - deal with the inevitable conversation with the girl with the wandering hands, Jinyoung stood from his lone chair and walked out of the room, instinctively sticking to the dark corners so as to not be detected as he made his escape.

It wasn't that he didn't like people. He liked his fellow princes a lot. Jackson, of course, was his best friend for as long as he could remember and, whether as friends or something more, Jinyoung loved him.

Youngjae was his rock. His comfort. The one who would listen without a word when it was needed and the one who's literal presence was comforting. Jinyoung blamed it on Youngjae being the healer, but there was just something so gentle about the younger man's aura that always made his stormy mind feel just a little more calm whenever he was around.

BamBam was the mood maker. Although Jinyoung had a hard time outwardly expressing his emotions and hardly, if ever, laughed visibly at BamBam's antics, the Earth Prince had a knack for lifting Jinyoung's mood. Most of the time, it was due to the dumb things he did on a regular basis and, while BamBam was probably a nuisance to the rest of the kingdom, Jinyoung and the other princes always found themselves just a little happier after spending time with him.

Then there was Yugyeom, the youngest. Jinyoung remembered the day Yugyeom was born. He remembered, albeit vaguely, being three years old and hearing all the commotion around the palace because ‘The second child's eyes are special’. He remembered how Yugyeom’s mother had previously had a son who, at 5 years old, didn't seem to have inherited any elemental powers. That boy got cast out of the palace without a second thought when the Water Prince was born. But among all the families with only one child in the palace, Jinyoung decided that having an older brother was a rare honour that Yugyeom shouldn't have to give up and took on the role himself. Yugyeom could be a brat and Jinyoung could be moody, but they were brothers, blood or otherwise.

Before Jinyoung could really think about where he was planning to go to hide from everyone, his feet had taken him all the way up to the roof of the palace; his new favorite spot.

He had been going there a lot over the past week or so to watch as the people in the town in the distance set up their yearly market leading up to the festival, developing a small interest and a strange pull toward it. It was just a basic flea market where they probably sold the same things at 10 different stalls but Jinyoung had been to a few of those before, in more high-class areas, and he always managed to find something that caught his attention. A diamond in the rough in the form of some trinket or the other that actually had the sellers hard work and time put into it. Something that had their heart put into it.

It somehow made Jinyoung feel a little less empty. A little more… human.

He leaned over the railing, watching the busy people in the little rundown town. He wanted to go there at some point. Maybe tomorrow, during entertainment day. It wasn't the _worst_ part of the festival - Jinyoung reserved that honour for the current night - but it wasn't mandatory, so he could leave if he wanted to.

Which he definitely wanted to.

“Ah, I knew you'd be up here. You're so predictable, Hyung.” Yugyeom's voice floated lightly through the air.

Jinyoung turned, spotting him walking closer with Jackson trailing behind him.

“You know, it can actually be kinda fun to pretend like you're interested in those people.” The youngest mused, standing next to Jinyoung and mirroring his pose of leaning over the railing, “Call me a dick, but there's nothing wrong with having someone gush over you like a shameless whor--”

“Yugyeom…” the older interrupted, frowning in that ‘big brother’ way that he'd perfected over the years.

Yugyeom shrugged, “I'm just saying, Hyung. Things like this are all about attitude. Try to look for the silver lining and you'll find it.”

Jinyoung sighed. He knew Yugyeom wasn't any more interested in a relationship with these people than he was. Yugyeom just wasn't interested in a relationship at all. It was _somewhat_ against what they were taught, but he just didn't seem to care that much.

The court pushed romantic relationships heavily. Well… they pushed _children_ heavily. Heirs. Even if there were any same sex couples, they were forbidden from adopting, they _had_ to use a surrogate and the elemental partner's DNA. It made sense, they couldn't allow the elementals to die out like they came so close to doing only about a hundred years earlier.

There were more of their kind back then. At least forty each generation, but most of them were wiped out thanks to a princess who went rogue and murdered almost all of the other princes and princesses with the help of her mysterious lover. The only reason there were still a handful of elementals left is because the two were caught and executed before they could finish the job.

It was unheard of for someone to have more than one elemental child, and 99% of the time, a couple's first child will inherit their powers so there would be no need to have another, seeing as how they would be cast out of the palace for being useless. Yugyeom's brother was an extremely rare case. Jinyoung never did know what became of him.

Of course, if there were two elementals - i.e. him and Jackson - they could essentially have two elemental children, given that one would be Jackson's and one would be Jinyoung's. That's what the court was pushing for anyway.

“Where’s Youngjae and BamBam?” Jinyoung questioned, noticing the absence of the two princes.

“BamBam disappeared. Probably with somebody. You know how he is.” Yugyeom laughed, “And last I saw, Youngjae Hyung was with some guy who was whispering something to him. Probably something filthy, judging by how Hyung was blushing like a school girl.”

Jackson chuckled, finally standing next to Jinyoung with his back against the railing, “So Youngjae's alone in there with a hundred single people trying to get into his pants. Wow.”

“Should we save him?” Yugyeom mused.

“Nah.” The Ice Prince replied, stretching, “He's allowed to have some fun. Who knows, maybe it'll turn into a threesome or… y'know… a hundred on one gangbang? We do need to save him, don't we?”

“We probably should.” Jinyoung spoke, “The guards probably _won't_ let them all assault him, but you know Youngjae can't say no to people. If we're not there, he'll agree to stupid things.”

“True. Come on, let's go save our princess.” The youngest teased, making his way back towards the door.

“We'll catch up, Gyeom.” Jackson called after him, “I just wanna talk to Jinyoung for a moment.”

Yugyeom threw him a thumbs up and walked back inside.

Jackson let out a breath before turning a smirk on his best friend turned fiancé, “Soooo… I saw you glare when that girl touched me.”

Jinyoung looked at him out of the corner of his eye, “And?”

“Your jealousy is flattering.”

The Prince of Darkness sighed, “You make it sound like we're _not_ already engaged. You know I love you, you don't need confirmation through jealousy.”

“I know.” Jackson smiled, moving closer to the other man.

Silence fell between the two princes. Jinyoung's eyes automatically rested on the town again, feeling entranced by it once more. Why had he never been there his whole life? It had a somewhat bad reputation for being dangerous, but he'd always wanted to go anyway. There was just something holding him back every time.

Mostly, that _something_ was the distaste of how people outside the palace usually treated him.

“Hey.” Jackson's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Hm?” He turned to the other man who was now shoulder to shoulder with him, a soft smile playing on the Ice Prince's lips.

Jackson tilted his head, “Smile for me.”

Jinyoung blinked in surprise at the unusual request, “What?”

“I feel like I haven't seen you smile in forever.”

“Jackson, I…” the younger cut himself off at the realization that he also couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled. There wasn't all that much to smile about these days, after all. His lips pulled up into a half-grimace, half-strained-smile before just as quickly going back to his previous expression. “Sorry…”

The other prince chuckled, “Well… practice makes perfect, right? Try smiling more and you'll get used to it.”

“Give me something to smile about.”

Jackson's eyes lit up, “As a matter of fact…” he started excitedly, digging through his pockets, obviously searching for something. Having located it, he looked back at the other man, “Put out your hands.”

Jinyoung raised an eyebrow but did as he was told, holding out both his hands in anticipation of whatever gift Jackson was giving him.

The Ice Prince hesitated for a moment. “Close your eyes."

“Jackson…” the younger sighed in exasperation.

“Just do it.” Jackson replied quickly, “Please?”

With another sigh, Jinyoung let his eyes flutter closed.

A few moments passed and the older man seemed to be making zero movements. Jinyoung was about to open his eyes and scold Jackson for wasting his time when he felt the Ice Prince's cold hand grabbing one of his, followed by the distinct feeling of cold metal sliding up one of his fingers to rest at the base.

Jinyoung opened his eyes, inspecting the band around his ring finger. It was simple; black with a light blue, sparkling stripe in the middle, Jinyoung figured the color choice was probably meant to represent darkness and ice because Jackson was cheesy and sentimental like that.

“Are you proposing to me?” The Prince of Darkness mused, “You're supposed to get down on one knee and _ask_ me to marry you. You're making a lot of assumptions.”

“I'm pretty sure you already said yes.”

“Really? I don't remember.” Jinyoung replied off-handedly, eyes still glued to the ring.

Jackson went quiet for a few seconds before he held Jinyoung's jewelry adorned hand and linked their fingers together. Faster than the Prince of Darkness’ mind could compute what his companion was doing, Jackson's lips were suddenly on his, kissing him softly.

It was rather ironic that Jackson had the elemental power of ice. The prince's body - from his skin to his blood to his lips - was cold, but he radiated a sweet, emotional warmth at the same time and Jinyoung barely took any notice of his icy limbs anymore.

Breaking the kiss, Jinyoung felt a smile - a genuine smile - cross his lips. Maybe things weren't terrible. Maybe things could have been so much worse and he was just a pessimist not being able to appreciate what he had.

He had everything, after all.

He had his best friend and the love of his life wrapped into one little neat package in the form of Jackson. He had friends, family, wealth, power, love, admiration.

“You should smile more often. It suits you.” Jackson whispered against his fiancé's lips.

Jinyoung had everything.

… right?

 

 

 

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

**•┈┈┈••✧✦✧••┈┈┈•** **  
**

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**


	2. Chapter II

The third evening of the celebration revolved around entertainment. People from all over would put on performances in the desperate hope of catching the attention of one or more of the princes and becoming famous from it, endorsed by the kingdom itself. It rarely turned out that way, but there have been a few instances of it happening.

Jinyoung should have been in the palace with the rest of them, but it was way too claustrophobic in there with all those people and he just needed to get out. And with the events for the third and fourth days of the festival being optional, he figured he'd take the opportunity to _finally_ check out that flea market.

Stepping out into the cool air was almost liberating for Jinyoung. He had the option to go anywhere and do anything at any time, but there always had to be at least two guards with him at all times, choking him even when he was out and about. This time was no different and two palace guards followed closely behind him as he made his way out of the upper class palace territory and toward the little town to the west that he had been so infatuated with.

Ignoring his bodyguards' protests about how dangerous this place was as he got closer to the rundown, overcrowded area, he didn't dare to look at anyone because he knew they would either be shocked he was there or gushing over him like a bunch of hormonal teenage girls.

He'd learned to ignore it, but a part of him still hoped that the less fortunate people down in the slums wouldn't fall at his feet like everybody else did.

Finally reaching his destination, with his two companions still following close behind, he looked over the items at the first stall he saw in the market. To most people, it wasn't anything special, just little trinkets, handmade bracelets and necklaces, but these were the kind of things Jinyoung loved. Everything was almost crudely made and that made it even more appealing to the prince.

Nothing was perfect and that was amazing.

He'd been to no more than three stalls when he was already starting to get irritated. The people here were no different than anyone else; they all treated him like he was from another planet and stumbled over their words nervously whenever they spoke to him.

The palace suddenly seemed more appealing. Yes, it was annoying and over crowded, but at least the other four princes saw him as an actual person.

"Goooood evening, Jinyoung."

The prince's head shot up at the mention of his name while his two guards sprung into action immediately, threatening the one who spoke with their unnecessary daggers.

The guards growled something along the lines of "You will address him formally" and "If you talk to him like that again, you'll be dead in a second", but Jinyoung hardly heard a word.

He couldn't understand what was happening.

It couldn't have been purely the fact that somebody other than his parents and his fellow princes called him so casually like that, it was something else. He felt... uneasy. He felt anxious, like there was something crawling just beneath the surface of his skin. A type of dull ache that went through his entire body.

And weirdly, an almost magnetic pull towards this... person.

The man put his hands up to avoid being brutally murdered and Jinyoung finally came back to his senses, ignoring the strange way his body was reacting in favor of saving the man who made him feel that way.

"Stop it." The prince commanded his guards.

"But... Your Highness..."

"Put your weapons down or _I'll_ kill _you_."

Reluctantly, they complied and put away the daggers, still glaring dangerously at the now smirking man.

"Wow." The man raised his eyebrows suggestively, "You really live up to your name, Mr. Prince of Darkness."

"Who are you?" Jinyoung asked, ignoring that statement.

The man put his hand out, wearing a big smile as his eyes sparkled, "Mark. It's nice to finally meet you in person."

The prince stared at the other's hand, reluctant to touch him. A part of him was screaming at him to run and get as far away from this guy as he possibly could because something was obviously very wrong. But another part was far too intrigued. Throughout most of his life, he felt next to nothing. Apathy was his everyday mood and the fact that one random person had the most magnetic pull _and_ instilled the most fear in him at the same time was thrilling.

The prince stepped closer, dropping his voice so that the guards couldn't hear him, "What is this? Who are you?"

"I just told you." Mark replied with a smirk that told Jinyoung that he knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Do... do I know you?" Jinyoung asked, mind going on overdrive as he tried to pin these unusual feelings on something. Maybe they had met when they were younger and Jinyoung's subconscious was pulling memories and emotions from the past without him knowing. It was a long shot, but there was no other explanation.

The other man shook his head, "Nope. This is the first time we've met, Your Majesty. But I have to admit, I've been dreaming about this moment for years."

"Why?" Jinyoung questioned, voice barely audible.

Mark leaned in close, causing the two guards to lift their daggers threateningly. He glanced at them and then looked back at Jinyoung, cocking his head in the direction of the nosy guards as a signal to get them to leave them alone.

Jinyoung turned to his guards and pointed behind them, further down the road, "Go wait over there."

"Your Highness..."

"Just go." The prince commanded, "I'm still in your line of sight. I think I'm entitled to some privacy."

The guards bowed, "Yes sir." They turned around and started making their way to the designated spot.

"Hey, come on." Mark suddenly whispered, grabbing Jinyoung's attention once again.

"What?"

"Let's go while they're distracted." The other man stated, taking a few steps back before turning and running.

Jinyoung took an automatic step forward before he caught himself and thought about what he was considering doing. Not only was he about to rebel against everything he's known for his entire life and run off on his own, but he was about to do it because of a random guy that he'd met five minutes ago that somehow made him feel alive for the first time.

It might have been stupid... but he was going to do it.

With a deep breath, he sprinted after Mark, barely hearing the shouts from his two guards as he ducked and weaved through the crowd, desperately trying to keep a glimpse of the dark clothes and blonde hair of the fleeting figure that he was so weirdly drawn towards.

A few more turns and a few hundred people later, he lost sight of the mysterious man and froze in his spot, looking around frantically while his mind raced with where he was, what he was doing and what he was going to do now.

"Jinyoung." Mark's voice called from somewhere. The prince spun around to look at the direction of the sound, spotting the other man in the doorway of a rundown, abandoned building. "Over here."

With another deep breath, Jinyoung followed him inside.

It was empty inside the building. Dark. Nothing but ground and a stone staircase going up to what was probably a second floor.

But the location was not important right now...

"Why are we here?" Jinyoung asked, looking around curiously.

Mark raised an eyebrow and smiled, leaning against the opposite wall, "Why are _you_ here? Why did you follow me?"

"I... I don't know." The prince admitted, eyes lingering on the dirty floor, "What's going on, Mark? What are you doing to me?"

The other man tilted his head, "What are you talking about? What _am_ I doing to you?"

Jinyoung gulped and stared at his hands, "I-I... You scare me..." he admitted, "But... there's something about you..."

The other's smile widened and he opened his mouth to say something only to pause when the sound of one of the guards calling for Jinyoung made its way to his ears. Springing into action immediately, he made for the stairs, motioning for the other man to do the same. They made their way up to the third and highest floor, passing by what looked like a makeshift bedroom on the second. Much like the second floor, the third was mostly empty, save for a pile of blankets on the floor in the form of a bed and some clothes piled up in the corner. It had no roof and a single glassless window that Jinyoung noticed had a very clear view of the palace.

"In that corner." Mark commanded, backing Jinyoung up against the wall next to the window, "They can't see us in this corner."

Still hearing the annoying voices of the guards outside, Jinyoung's breathing picked up when he realized how close to each other he and Mark were and the way his body was reacting even more strongly than before.

Mark was obviously the cause of all this. But why..?

The voices got closer and Mark put a finger to his lips for the prince to stay quiet as they heard the guards nearing the building.

"Your Highness!" A guard called obnoxiously loudly from below the third floor window and Jinyoung rolled his eyes in annoyance, causing Mark to laugh silently.

"You smell nice..." Mark whispered, placing his hands on the walls on either side of the other man as the voices moved a little further away, but still close enough that they would have been spotted if they moved. "Like royalty."

Jinyoung scoffed, "Royalty..."

"What? You don't like being a prince?"

"I don't mind being a prince at all. I just hate the way people treat us like we're children." Jinyoung explained, "Like if they let us out of their sight or treat us like actual _people_ , we'll either get killed or go crazy and cause the end of the world with our powers."

"They love you. But they're afraid of you." Mark stated.

Jinyoung sighed, "I know they are. But that's not a good enough reason to keep us locked up and observed like zoo animals."

Mark smiled, "We think alike, Your Majesty."

"What do you mean?"

Something sparked in Marks eyes that made the uneasy feeling inside the prince heighten. "I mean... I'd like to see this whole 'Elemental Prince' bullshit fall as well."

Jinyoung gulped, "That's kinda worrying, to be honest. It sounds like you have some... animosity toward us. You could probably kill me right here if you wanted..."

"I could." The other man agreed, smile widening and turning almost sinister, "But you trust me. You're drawn to me." He leaned in to whisper in the other's ear, "I'm sure you don't understand it and it's freaking you out. The way you're feeling right now... The way I'm _making_ you feel right now..."

"W-What?" Jinyoung squeaked out.

"The racing heart, butterflies in your stomach, the feeling of something prickling on your skin... that urge to do _something_ you just can't put your finger on."

"How could you possibly know that..? What did you do to me..?" Jinyoung whispered back quietly. Everything he said was right and the fear surrounding their entire encounter was getting worse by the second.

"How do I know that?" Mark repeated, chuckling a bit before pulling back to look the prince straight in the eye, "Because I feel exactly the same..."

Jinyoung's eyes widened, "H-how... what... what's going on..? What is this..?"

Suddenly, Mark's hands dropped and latched onto Jinyoung's, causing them both to gasp at he way simple skin on skin contact changed their entire mood.

For Jinyoung, it was as if all the negative feelings he had been experiencing since they met had dissipated and was replaced by a strange feeling of warmth and comfort and _belonging_ that he had never felt before. Almost as if he was... complete.

For Mark, it was ten times stronger.

Ever since Mark first laid eyes on the Prince of Darkness, he felt that pull. That incessant _need_ to be close to him. He had dreamed about what it would be like when they finally met and, more importantly, the first time he got to touch him.

Even his dreams couldn't live up to this moment…

Jinyoung almost felt like crying due to the whiplash of emotions that he was experiencing. He was calm and somewhat relaxed, but still confused, if not more so now that a simple touch by a stranger seemed to have flipped some sort of switch inside him.

Mark's eyes fluttered closed and a satisfied smile crossed his lips, "Wow..." He slid his hands slowly up Jinyoung's arms, over his shoulders and up his neck to cup his jaw, "Jinyoung, I... I want... to..."

"What..?" Jinyoung asked, letting his eyes close as well and feeling like he knew what it was that Mark wanted.

Jinyoung wanted the same thing.

He was never a careless person and it was probably _incredibly_ stupid to let his guard down and just give in to his desires, but...

Leaning in close to Mark out of his own accord, lips less than an inch apart, he realized that he wanted this man more than anything in his entire life.

"They have guesthouses for this sort of thing." A third, bored sounding voice pieced the near silent room and Jinyoung pulled away from the other man as quick as he could, accidentally hitting the back of his head against the wall.

Mark immediately placed a hand on the spot that connected with the wall, cooing at him silently while he instinctively tried to do what he could to ease the pain.

"Oh." The voice suddenly sounded significantly less bored, "Prince of Darkness, huh? Makes sense why you'd be here, then. Probably wouldn't be able to get a room without someone putting you back on your leash, I suppose."

Mark turned to glare at him, "Fuck off, Jaebeom. You're gonna get us caught."

Jaebeom put a hand up, "Well, gee sorry. I didn't realize you were here. You didn't put your 'do not disturb, getting it on with a motherfucking prince' sign on the nonexistent door."

"No... We weren't... I..." Jinyoung tried futily to explain, wondering himself how far things would have gone if Jaebeom hadn't interrupted them. And how far he _wanted_ things to go...

Jaebeom chuckled but made no move to leave and Mark raised an annoyed eyebrow, "So? Why are you here?"

The other man narrowed his eyes, "I live here, Mark. And I haven't slept in 30 hours, I'm exhausted."

"You _live_ here?" Jinyoung piped up in surprise, "But... there's nothing here."

Jaebeom somewhat glared at him, "We don't all have fancy palace rooms and nice beds, Prince."

Jinyoung glanced at the floor, "Sorry..."

Jaebeom raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You're sorry?" he asked with a tilt of his head, "Wow. I didn't expect that from a prince."

The prince sighed, "I am a person. I have feelings like everyone else and I feel for people who are forced to live like this because of the kingdom using it's finances for unnecessary shit."

"Then why don't you _do_ something about it, Prince?" Jaebeom questioned.

Jinyoung scoffed, "You think I have any authority over there? We're just a bunch of circus acts that they can parade around for their own enjoyment. Jackson has the most say in things out of the five of us, but even he's heavily outweighed by the court."

"You guys could probably destroy the entire planet if you wanted to. Combined, you have the power to do that." The other man stated, "Why are _you_ taking orders from _them_?"

"Because they're people, firstly. We might be powerful enough to kill a lot of people, but that doesn't mean we want to." The prince explained, "And secondly... what do we even know about ruling a kingdom? They know that we'll be lost without them, so they don’t really worry about an uprising or something like that."

Jaebeom tsk'ed, "Maybe they should."

Jinyoung blinked, "Why?"

"No reason." The other replied, a dangerous smile playing across his lips.

The prince opened his mouth to say something in reply, only to gasp slightly when Mark suddenly removed all contact with him. Instinct taking over at full force, he reached forward and grabbed the other man's hand, linking their fingers together in a subconscious attempt to _keep_ him there.

"You should get back to the palace." Mark suggested, even as he squeezed his hand harder, "Before they send the rest of the battalion to come looking for you. We don't need all that attention in this town."

"But... I..." Jinyoung protested, unsure of how he could tell someone he _didn't know_ that he wanted to be with him as much as was humanly possible.

"I know..." Mark replied, sounding equally as torn, "Can you... find a way to come here again? Tomorrow maybe? We can talk more then."

The prince nodded immediately. He didn't know how he would go about doing that, but he would have promised Mark anything at that point, "I'll find a way. Will you be here?"

The other man shook his head, "I'd rather you not come to this building by yourself. Meet me in town, I'll bring you back here."

"How will I find you?"

"Trust me." Mark smiled, "You will."

 

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

 

Jinyoung couldn't sleep.

He didn't have any hope that he _would_ when he got into bed that night.

Not after the roller coaster of emotion and confusion that he had been through...

Something was off about his whole encounter with Mark. Something incredibly strange. It wasn't just a really strong case of love at first sight, there was more to it. There had to be more to it. Something he wasn't understanding. Something almost... supernatural.

He had considered the idea that Mark was a wizard of some sort or had some kind of love potion made to make Jinyoung feel the way he did. That was the only remotely plausible explanation as to why the prince suddenly felt like he had found the other half of himself by chance in the middle of a rundown market.

It didn't explain the way his body reacted to seeing him and subsequently touching him though. That was not mental or emotional. That was a physical _need_ for contact with him.

As confused as he was and how much this whole thing freaked him out, he knew one thing for certain...

He needed to see Mark again. And he would do anything to make that happen.

"Jinyoung..." A soft whisper, that the prince barely heard, flitted through the air of the otherwise silent bedroom.

He turned over in his bed to look at where his door was cracked a little open and saw familiar puppy eyes blinking cutely at him. Turning back again, he sighed, "What’s up, Jackson?"

The older prince seemed to have taken that as a cue to come inside the room and slip into bed behind his friend and cuddle up to him, "Hey... what happened earlier? Why'd you disappear? Where did you go?"

"I just needed some time alone." the Prince of Darkness muttered.

"We were all worried about you." Jackson scolded, "Nobody knew what happened to you."

" _Nothing_ happened to me. I survived. I think I can handle being by myself for half an hour." Jinyoung spat bitterly.

The Ice Prince sighed, cool breath dancing on the back of the other man's neck and elicting a shudder from him, "It's dangerous. Not just for you, but if you get in with the wrong people, you could put the whole Kingdom in danger."

"Jackson..."

"Just... be careful... Ok?"

Jinyoung paused, "I will."

"Tell me..." Jackson whispered, touching the tip of his nose to the nape of the younger's neck, "Are you seeing someone? Is that why you wanted to be alone?"

"What are you talking about..?" Jinyoung asked back, feeling his heart jump.

"The princess that caused the elemental genocide… she started acting out and rebelling after she met that guy. She also used to run away from the guards to be with him whenever she could. And we all know how that ended.”

"I... I would never hurt any of you..." Jinyoung assured.

Jackson went silent, breathing slowly, and Jinyoung was suddenly nervous because the Ice Prince was hardly ever quiet. "So there is someone..." he finally spoke, breaking the suffocating silence, "You're seeing someone..."

"I'm not..."

"Who is it?"

"Jackson..."

"Tell me."

"I'm not seeing anybody, but... t-there was… an interesting guy in town.." The Prince of Darkness admitted unsurely.

Jackson said nothing and just rolled over, slipping out of Jinyoung's bed and wordlessly heading for the door.

Jinyoung felt his heart sink.

Despite the ring and all the talk about engagement, the two princes hadn't really gone through the dating phase or anything like that. They were just best friends who were going to spend the rest of their lives together. Jinyoung would question his feelings for Jackson often, but whenever they were together, any doubt would usually fly out the window.

Still, romantic or not, he loved Jackson and he would never purposely hurt him.

But...

If Jackson interfered with his plans tomorrow…

 

 

 

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

**•┈┈┈••✧✦✧••┈┈┈•**

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

 


	3. Chapter III

One of the first things the Elemental Princes were taught was to never misuse their powers. Only use it when absolutely necessary or in a controlled environment, such as during the weekly training exercises.

But Jinyoung decided that if things were going to be different around there, that would be the first thing to change.

It occurred to him, while he had been planning how to get back to the town undetected, that he controlled the darkness. The shadows. If he played his cards just right, he could simply _walk_ out of the palace and no one would be the wiser.

So that's what he did. After mapping out his escape route, he gradually formed shadows in the perfect places - as the sun went down, so as to not cause any suspicion - until they were just dark and dense enough to pass through safely.

He slipped through halls and corridors, having to stay as quiet as he possibly could. Until, with an almost manic moment of ' _what the fuck am I doing?_ ', he stepped out of the – weirdly wide open - palace gates and started down the road, finally breathing a sigh of relief when he got far enough to not be spotted by the guards in the natural darkness of the night.

Suddenly, without warning, as he stepped into a small puddle, his feet seemed to have given out and he fell forward, landing hard on his knees and groaning at the pain that shot up his legs.

Instinctively trying to get back up, it took him a moment to realize that he couldn't move his legs at all and that it felt like he was stuck to the ground. Finally turning his head to see what exactly was going on, he went rigid and his blood ran cold at the sight of the solid ice encasing his feet.

All at once, he felt the cold seep rapidly through his shoes and cling to his skin, frostbiting him as his feet started to go numb.

"Jackson, stop it! Let me go!" He shouted into the night, not _seeing_ the Ice Prince, but knowing that he had to be nearby.

"I knew you would leave." The older's voice sounded from up ahead and Jinyoung immediately snapped his head in that direction, spotting Jackson a little ways up the road, walking closer while glaring coldly at him, "You didn't hear a damn thing I said last night, did you?"

"I did. But this isn't the same as that story." The Prince of Darkness assured, "I can handle myself, Jackson, you should have a bit more faith in me."

The Ice Prince scoffed and suddenly the restrictions around the younger's feet got tighter, pressing into his already marred skin and causing him to cry out in pain.

"Jackson, please! Stop, it hurts!"

"I _know_ you." The older started, looming over the other's crippled form, "You've never cared so much about anything in your life and that fact that you're going against everything we've been taught for... whoever the _fuck_ this guy is... It's not gonna end well, I can tell you that right now."

"You don't understand." Jinyoung pleaded, being in too much pain to keep silent, "He's not just _some guy_. From the moment I met him, I knew he wasn't just some guy. There's something up with him and I need to find out what it is, I can't just let this go."

Jackson sighed and kneeled down in front of his friend, cupping his face with a hand, "Listen to me... Forget him."

"I can't..."

"Jinyoung..." the Ice Prince tilted the younger's head up to look at him, feeling his heart crack at the sight of the other man's teary eyes. It hurt to hurt him, but Jackson was desperate. "Please..."

Jinyoung looked up, locking eyes with the other prince, trying to keep a somewhat calm facade despite the physical pain from his legs and the emotional pain from seeing just how much this was affecting his friend-turned-fiancé. "I... I'm sorry..."

The hurt in the Ice Prince's eyes was enough to have a tear finally roll down Jinyoung's face.

Letting his eyes close so he didn't have to look at his closest friend of his entire life in the eye, the Prince of Darkness leaned in, capturing Jackson's frigid lips with his own for no longer than two seconds before pulling away and touching their foreheads together. "Please, just... let me do this."

Jackson didn't reply, but his breathing picked up and he started feeling unusually cold; like his insides were beginning to freeze. He gripped his chest and tried to ignore it, gasping when the ice around Jinyoung’s feet rapidly melted back into a puddle.

Fear sparked inside the older prince as he attempted to recreate the icy shackles, only to have it turn to water immediately.

He didn’t understand what was happening. Never in his life had he ever had trouble using his power and suddenly even the simplest of icicles seemed impossible to form.

"What the fuck is going on?" He asked, voice shaky with the fear of the unknown.

"I... I don't know..." Jinyoung replied, getting feeling back in his feet as they warmed up, still excruciatingly painful.

Jackson stood up and looked around frantically, "Something's not right."

The younger watched as his friend's eyes darted back and forth, looking for something to offer him an explanation. Jinyoung didn't feel anything strange. There was nothing off. Nothing was _wrong_. But Jackson was obviously freaked out by something.

And then it hit him.

Jackson seemed to be anxious. Fearful. Completely on edge for no apparent reason.

Exactly the way Jinyoung had felt when he first met Mark.

"Jackson, I--"

"Prince?" A somewhat familiar voice interrupted Jinyoung and he turned to see a figure running purposefully towards him. The man seemed to ignore Jackson outright and dropped to his knees next to the Prince of Darkness, "Oh my God, are you ok? Are you hurt?"

"Jae... Jaebeom?" The prince started, tilting his head, "What are you doing here?"

"I... came to look for you." Jaebeom admitted, "I was worried you wouldn't be able to get out."

"What..?" Jinyoung muttered in confusion. Something was _very_ strange about the way the other man was acting. Jaebeom didn't seem to be terribly fond of him the last time they saw each other. And even if he did have a random change of heart, the whole overly concerned persona just didn't... fit with him.

Jaebeom stood and attempted to pull the prince to his feet, cringing as Jinyoung groaned in pain from his raw wounds rubbing against the insides of his tattered shoes. He paused before turning and kneeling back down to let Jinyoung get onto his back.

The other man took the invitation - Jaebeom was pretty much a stranger that Jinyoung didn't _really_ trust, but he had the option to either rely on him or walk all the way to town on his painfully burned feet and risk getting infections or, worse, getting caught by someone else - and hopped on to the other's back, wrapping his arms around his neck while Jaebeom stood up and held the prince securely in place.

Suddenly a jagged block of ice whizzed past them with Jaebeom barely managing to step out of the way just in time. Jinyoung turned his head to look at Jackson and gasped slightly at the sight in front of him.

Jackson looked... feral.

His eyes were wide and his pupils were blown, making his usually icy blue orbs look almost completely black. He stood with his body hunched slightly as if preparing to strike at the slightest movement, fists clenched so tightly Jinyoung worried he would draw blood.

It was terrifying.

"J... Jackson..." the Prince of Darkness started, scared of his best friend for the first time in his life.

Jaebeom chuckled, aura changing instantly as he walked toward the Ice Prince.

Jinyoung panicked, tapping the other man's shoulder frantically, "Stop. Something's wrong."

Jaebeom turned his head to look at the man he was carrying, wearing a dark smile, "I got you, Prince. He's just a little agitated. Like a dog whose territory has just been invaded." He walked past Jackson, leaning in close to him to whisper a condescending "Down, boy."

"Where are you taking him..?" The Ice Prince asked, dark, hate filled eyes locked onto the strange man.

"Just to have a little fun." Jaebeom replied, quickly maneuvering just enough for him to give Jinyoung an over-exaggerated kiss on the cheek, causing the Prince of Darkness to instinctively recoil and almost fall from his position on the other's back.

Jackson growled and another sharp block of jagged ice attacked Jaebeom from the side. He calmly stepped forward to dodge it, letting it hit Jinyoung instead, cutting him on his side and causing him to scream from the mixture of pain and cold.

"I told you to stand down, dog." Jaebeom spoke, grinning at the horrified look on Jackson's face. He tsk'ed and continued down the road, "I'm sure you wouldn't want him to get any _more_ hurt."

Jinyoung did his best to ignore the pain and looked back at his friend, seeing him standing frozen in his spot, staring after them with a mix of fear and regret playing across his features. The Prince of Darkness mouthed a silent 'I'm sorry' to him before turning back around and burying his face in Jaebeom's neck in a subconscious attempt to ease the pain shooting through his body.

"Sorry about that." Jaebeom apologized when they were far enough away from Jackson, "Just a little collateral damage. To get my point across. Mark is gonna kill me..."

"Who are you..?" Jinyoung asked weakly, voice muffled by the other's clothes as he felt his shirt stick to his skin with the warm blood slowly seeping through the fabric.

Jaebeom chuckled, "I'm nobody. I'm just the middle man taking you to your insane Cinderella, Prince Charming."

"Insane?" The Prince of Darkness questioned, "Is Mark a wizard or something?"

"No. Close, I guess. But no." The other replied cryptically, "You'll probably learn a lot about him soon. He really likes you."

"Are you guys close?"

"Very. We grew up together."

"Jackson and I grew up together too..." Jinyoung muttered, thinking out loud rather than telling his companion, "I've never seen him look as... terrifying as he did today.”

“You know him well then.” The other man responded, more as a statement than a question.

“I’m engaged to him.” The prince admitted before laughing softly, “Oh, but that’s a secret, shhh.”

Jaebeom scoffed, “I’m bad at keeping secrets. You know I have to tell Mark, right?”

“Mark is special, he can --ah..." he groaned as Jaebeom shifted him to get a little more comfortable.

"You ok back there, Prince?" Jaebeom mused.

"Perfectly fine..." Jinyoung replied sarcastically, "Just in excruciating pain, but other than that, I'm great..."

The other man chuckled, "Just close your eyes and enjoy the ride. I'm sure you must be a little weak from the blood loss, so..."

Jinyoung snorted, "You're not waiting for me to pass out so you can just let me bleed to death, are you? Cause if you are, you... probably don't have to wait long..."

"Do you have any idea how many creative ways Mark would murder me if I let anything happen to you? I'm sure that gash on your side is enough to warrant strangulation." Jaebeom stated, not sounding the least bit afraid, despite his words, "Just go to sleep, Prince. We'll be in town before you know it."

Jinyoung didn't have much choice in the matter as the blood loss and the exhaustion got to him and he slowly blacked out.

 

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

 

When Jinyoung woke up, the first thing he saw was the multicolored lights of fireworks exploding in the dark sky. It was the end of the festival, the prince realized in his hazy mind. The festival always ended with a bang with everyone busting fireworks at midnight. The palace especially always had a magnificent fireworks display.

The second thing he saw, as he turned his head a little, was Mark. He was watching the fireworks as well, his soft features being illuminated beautifully with each colorful explosion.

It took him a moment to realize he was back in that seemingly abandoned building that Mark and Jaebeom called home, in the makeshift bed, looking at the sky through the missing roof.

It took him another moment to realize that he was lying with his head in Mark's lap and that the other man was very gently stroking his hair.

He lifted a hand up, mustering every ounce of strength he had in order to give in to that ever present need to just _touch_ him.

Noticing the movement, Mark looked down at him and smiled, "Hey."

"Hi..." the prince greeted back softly, gently running his fingertips over the other's jaw.

"How you feeling?" Mark asked, brushing the prince's hair out of his face.

Jinyoung suddenly remembered. His raw, broken feet. The large wound on his side. The way he broke his best friend and future husband's heart for the chance to see a guy he had just met...

"I... uh... I'm ok."

"Jaebeom dropped you off here." Mark explained, "Said you guys had an interesting encounter and that it, quote, 'wasn't his fault'."

The prince chuckled, "It wasn't. Not really." He paused before trying to turn his head to look at his feet, "Did you... did _you_ patch me up?"

Mark grinned, "I never had someone who could magically heal me, so I had to learn to do stuff like this to survive."

"Thank you..."

"No problem. I won't ever let anything happen to you, Jinyoung."

The prince blinked. It was... strange. They didn't know each other. Why did Mark care so much about him? Why did _he_ care so much about Mark? What was it that drew them to each other and made Jinyoung feel like they had been together for his entire life?

He had questioned this internally before, but he was a little nervous to ask Mark about it. He obviously knew more than Jinyoung did, but... the prince was weirdly afraid of what the reason would be.

"Tell me something..." he started hesitantly, "What is happening?"

"Hm?" Mark asked back, tilting his head.

"With me. With... _us_." The prince clarified, "What is this? Why am I so comfortable around you? Why am I so antsy when I'm not with you and so calm whenever I am?"

Something flashed in the other man's eyes before a smirk spread across his lips, "Sounds like you're in love with me."

"I don't know you..."

"Then it's destiny."

Is that what it was? Destiny? Fate? Were they meant to find each other by chance like they did? Were they meant to be together like this, watching the fireworks light up the sky? Were they soulmates?

Jinyoung didn't know if he even believed in destiny, but everything was too perfect to just be chance.

His mind went back to the encounter with Jackson and Jaebeom earlier. Jackson had initially reacted to Jaebeom's presence the same way he himself had reacted to Mark's.

But then... something was different.

Jackson looked like he wanted to _kill_ Jaebeom. And, in turn, it didn't seem like Jaebeom liked the Ice Prince very much either. They instinctively hated each other.

Was that also destiny?

There was also that confusing instance with Jackson being unable to use his powers properly and then Jaebeom showing up a moment later.

Again, too coincidental…

Jinyoung attempted to sit up, only to flop back down with a hiss as pain shot through his side.

Mark looked at him in disapproval, "You shouldn't move. Your wounds are still raw and there was only so much I could do with the supplies on hand."

"It hurts..." the prince grimaced.

"You should go back." Mark suggested, "Get healed up and maybe come back after."

Jinyoung shook his head, "I can't. I'm sure Jackson's told them by now. Youngjae's not gonna just heal me and, even if he does, they're not gonna let me out of their sight again."

“Dammit. You're probably right.” the other man sighed, “Maybe you should just rest for now? We'll make a plan in the morning.”

“Can I sleep here?” Jinyoung asked.

Mark nodded, “Of course. Why would I ever give up the chance to spend more time with you?”

Jinyoung's lips quirked up into a smile as they locked eyes. There it was again; that feeling of completion. That feeling of tranquility. He was sure he’d been happier in the past few minutes than he had in his entire life and smiling, for the first time in years, came naturally to him when Mark was around. The Prince of Darkness may not have understood it, but he loved it.

“So,” Mark started suddenly, startling Jinyoung a little. He maneuvered the prince off of his lap as gently as possible before flopping down on the blankets next to him, “What did you learn today, Your Majesty?”

“Huh?”

“It was skill building day, right? Day four?” the other clarified.

“Oh. That.” Jinyoung muttered. He'd actually completely forgotten about that. Day four of the festival was about learning a new skill. Everyone was encouraged to try something new on the day and the princes were allowed to pick _any_ skill to learn. Usually it was Jinyoung's favourite part of the festival because it was always nice to learn something new and unusual to the kingdom. But this year… “I didn't even think about that today, to be honest. I was too fixated on a certain someone.”

“And who would that be?” Mark asked playfully.

The prince turned to look at his companion who was mirroring his position, their noses barely an inch apart. “I wonder.” He pursed his lips together before continuing, voice low at a near whisper, “Why don't you teach me something, Mark?”

“Like what?” The other asked, eyes following the motion of the prince's tongue dragging across his lips.

“Something more intimate.” Jinyoung didn't know where this sudden burst of seductive courage came from, but he figured he'd already come this far, he might as well take it just one step further.

Mark grinned, letting his eyelids fall shut, “Oh yeah? You want me to start with the basics or do you think you're at a more intermediate level already?”

He had barely finished his sentence when he felt Jinyoung's lips brush against his ever so lightly.

“You're being forward, Love…” Mark whispered, revelling in the way their breaths mingled.

“You're one to talk.” Jinyoung replied, equally as softly, “You just called me ‘Love’.”

Eyes still shut, Mark slowly felt around for Jinyoung’s hand, linking their fingers together when he located it. They paused like that, drinking in the closeness of their bodies and the innocent affection of holding hands. The rest of the world could go up in flames and neither would care at that point. All that mattered was being together. Drowning in each other.

“Jinyoung…” Mark breathed out, a subtle desperation litting his voice.

The prince sighed against the other man’s lips, “Are you gonna kiss me or do I have to beg..?”

Mark had a witty response on the tip of his tongue, but held back, opting to instead to tilt his chin up just that small distance they needed for their lips to connect.

Gentle. Like snow or cotton candy or a first love. That’s what it felt like to the Prince of Darkness. There was no ulterior motives behind the kiss. Even as Mark softly nipped at his bottom lip, there was nothing sexual or tainted. Nothing that would ruin the single most perfect moment of Jinyoung’s life.

He didn’t know how long they lay like that, perfectly mirrored against each other like some sort of beautifully intimate yin-yang sculpture, but when Mark finally broke the kiss, Jinyoung knew it wasn’t nearly long enough.

“Why’d you stop?” He groaned.

Mark chuckled and lifted himself up onto one elbow, facing the other man while gently cupping his face, “You still gonna deny being in love with me?”

“The fact that I do have these feelings for you is the problem.” Jinyoung countered quietly, “I met you yesterday.”

The other man smiled, swooping in for another kiss. This time was far more intense than the first and Jinyoung felt himself moan before he could think about it as Mark ran his tongue along the prince's lips, asking for entrance. He was granted permission a second later and Mark wasted no time in mapping out Jinyoung's mouth, sucking on his tongue every now and then.

Suddenly Mark was shoved away as Jinyoung let out a pained hiss of “Ow, fuck!”

“What… what happened?” Mark asked, equalling Jinyoung's pain with his panic.

“You, uh…” the prince started, “Your fingers kinda dug into my side.”

The other man glanced at what Jinyoung was referring to and noticed his blood-stained shirt, suddenly remembering that, right, the Prince of Darkness had a very violent run in earlier, “Oh. Shit, I'm sorry. Does it feel like it opened up again? Do I need to redress it?”

“No, I'm fine.” The prince assured, “Just… the sudden pain startled me more than anything.”

Mark sighed in relief and flopped down next to the other man once again, “We really need to get that looked at. It could get infected if we're not careful.”

“But where could we go? I can't exactly just walk around town, looking for a doctor.”

“I dunno.” The other replied with another sigh, scooting closer to Jinyoung and burying his face in the crook of the prince's neck, “We've got a few more hours till the sun comes up. Let's go to sleep. We'll figure something out when we wake up.”

 

 

 

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

**•┈┈┈••✧✦✧••┈┈┈•**

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**


	4. Chapter IV

“Help! Someone help!”

The two guards at the palace gates sprung into action, running up to the frantic man with dark red hair carrying a person in his arms.

“Help, please!” The man gasped out fearfully, clutching the figure he was holding a little tighter, “I found him on the side of the road, he's bleeding out… please… please let me take him to Prince Youngjae to be healed, he could die.”

Finally recognizing the unconscious man as being the Prince of Darkness, one of the guards stepped closer, “Give him to us, we'll get him healed up.”

“I can't.” The man replied, gesturing to the somewhat awkward way he was carrying the prince, “The wound is on his side, I've got pressure against it, I don't wanna let him go too quickly.”

The two guards exchanged glances before nodding, “Fine. Ok. Stick with us.”

They led the man quickly to the palace, past many confused guards and up to the higher levels where the princes’ quarters were. Running up to a door, the guard pounded on it, “Your Highness! We have an emergency! We need your help!”

The rush of quick footsteps could be heard before the door opened and Youngjae emerged, blinking in confusion, “What hap… pened..?” His eyes went wide when he spotted Jinyoung, battered and bruised, along with the blood stains on the front of the strange man's shirt.

“He's hurt pretty bad, Your Majesty, he needs to be healed.” The man explained.

Youngjae nodded, stepping aside to let him in, “Ok, come on. Put him on my bed.”

“Your Highness.” One of the guards called, causing Youngjae to turn toward them. He continued softly, “Will you be ok? Would you like us to stay in here with you?”

The prince glanced into his room at the scared looking man clutching Jinyoung and then back to the guards, “No. I think I'll be ok. But you guys need to alert the higher ups that Jinyoung Hyung is here. I'll heal him, then he's gonna have to rest for a while. I think they'll want to question him a bit when he wakes up.”

“Ok. We’ll send someone to let them know.” He replied then gestured to the other guard, “In the meantime, we'll be right outside the door if you need anything.”

“Thank you.” Youngjae nodded, closing the door and making his way toward the strange man, “Do you know what happened? How he got hurt-- ah.” He gasped as the Prince of Darkness’ eyes opened and he was quickly let down onto his still tattered feet.

“Youngjae… please…” Jinyoung pleaded, clutching his side protectively.

The healer's eyes widened, “Jinyo… Hyung… what the hell? What's going on?”

“Please heal me. I promise I'll let you know everything soon.”

“But... Jackson Hyung… told me about what happened last night.” Youngjae admitted, still confused, “He was worried and heartbroken and he said you _chose_ to run away and--”

“Did he forget to mention that he was the one that injured the prince?” The third person in the room piped up, looking far less frantic than he had been.

“H-he… _Jackson_ did this?” The healer stammered, horrified eyes locked onto where Jinyoung's hand was pressing against his blood-soaked clothes.

Jinyoung took a painful step forward and placed his clean hand on the younger prince's shoulder, “I promise I will explain. Right now I just… I, uh… had it bandaged up last night but it's not enough, I need you to at least close the wound on my side, please.”

“Hyung…” Youngjae glanced at the door, clearly uncomfortable and Jinyoung felt himself start to panic. He could call for those guards at any moment and their whole plan would be ruined.

The younger prince opened his mouth to say something toward the door – or more specifically, the guards – when, in an instant, there was a hand pressed roughly over his mouth to silence him, fingers digging painfully into his cheeks.

“Don’t you dare...”

“Jaebeom, stop.” Jinyoung grabbed his wrist, trying to pry him away from the terrified young man. The last thing they needed was to freak him out even more, lest he just decide not to help Jinyoung at all.

Jaebeom scowled but let go, staying on his guard as he did so. In a last ditch effort, especially since they were running out of time before someone came to check on them, Jinyoung fell to his knees, causing the healer to take a cautious step back.

“Youngjae, please.” The Prince of Darkness clasped his hands together, “Please. I'm begging you. Please do this for me. I will be in your debt forever, please.”

“Hyung…”

Jinyoung felt awful.

Youngjae was kind and caring and the older prince knew he would eventually give in and help him. He also knew that Youngjae’s power drained the energy of a person while he healed them and Jinyoung would undoubtedly pass out afterwards. Instead of staying put and sleeping it off like he should, he couldn't stick around after he was healed if he wanted any chance of getting back to the town. That meant he was going to have to leave Jaebeom in charge for a bit and, judging by the display from a moment ago, he was not looking forward to that.

He took a deep breath and locked eyes with the younger man, “Please.”

Youngjae looked like he was at war with himself, glancing between Jinyoung and the door, before he placed his hands over his face and groaned. “Fine!” He shouted a little too loudly, arms dropping back down, “Fine. But you have to _promise_ me you'll stay afterwards.”

“Youngjae, I…”

“Promise me, Hyung.”

Jinyoung's gaze dropped to focus on the younger's feet, “I… can't.” He looked back up, “I don't wanna lie to you, Youngjae. I can't stay here. The truth is; I don't even fully understand what's going on, but I promise I will tell you everything as soon as I do. I promise. Please just… trust in me.” He lowered his head in a deep bow, knowing that this was all he had to offer and he was screwed if Youngjae didn't agree.

He heard the sound of rustling in front of him and suddenly he was being pulled into a hug, simultaneously feeling the pain in his body subside along with the comforting warmth that always accompanied Youngjae's power.

“Please don't do anything stupid…” the younger whispered, receiving a weak nod and Jinyoung's arms finding purchase around his waist as the Prince of Darkness felt himself getting more and more tired as every cell in his body worked overtime to repair itself.

Jinyoung went limp as soon as he was fully healed, his face buried in the other’s shoulder. Youngjae looked up at Jaebeom, “I don't know how you're planning on getting out of here. He was hurt pretty bad, he's gonna be out cold for at least seven to eight hours and I highly doubt you'll be able to carry him past the guards.”

Jaebeom leaned down and lifted Jinyoung out of the healer's arms with ease. He moved to the nearby window and opened it before turning back to Youngjae and smirking, “You underestimate me.” He winked then tilted his head, “You know, now that I think about it, you wouldn't happen to want to join us, would you? We could use a healer.”

“Get out before I alert the guards.” The younger hissed, distrust clearly evident on his features.

Jaebeom shrugged, “Suit yourself. But if you ever decide to get out of this stuffy palace, hit me up. You and I could have a _lot_ of fun together, Your Majesty.” With that, he stepped out through the window and was gone in the blink of an eye.

Guilt started creeping up in Youngjae’s mind as he slumped down on the floor. His default mindset was to help anyone and everyone in need, but it didn’t take long for him to start questioning himself for healing the wayward Prince of Darkness.

Had he made the right decision?

 

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

 

When Jinyoung woke up, the first thing he saw was the orange sky dotted with a few clouds that looked almost purple. It took a moment for him to realize that the sun was setting and that he was, once again, looking at the sky through the missing roof.

The second thing he saw was, sure enough, Mark. He was staring out the window panel, this time illuminated by the soft orange and pink glow of the evening sun.

Jinyoung giggled as soon as he realized that he was lying in Mark's lap again, catching the attention of the other man. “We really need to stop meeting like this.” The Prince of Darkness mused softly, lifting a hand to cup the other's face.

“You pass out too much.” Mark joked back, “I've had to be your Knight in shining armor twice now.”

“Well…” the prince started, pouting a little, “I'm pretty sure you're not the one who's carried me here two days in a row.”

Mark raised an eyebrow, “Really? You'd rather I be Jaebeom right now?”

Jinyoung chuckled again and sat up, enjoying not having a large gash on his side this time as he twisted so that he was facing his companion, “I'm kidding.”

“No no.” The other continued, crossing his arms and legs over dramatically like a pouty child, “By all means, tell me about how you wanna fuck my brother.”

“You know I’m joking.” The prince insisted, keeping the interesting fact that Mark had just referred to Jaebeom as his brother in the back of his mind. He stole a kiss from the other man before sitting back comfortably, facing him.

“Ok, so…” he started, “I'm awake, I'm alert, I'm not injured and I've already hurt two people that I love. Tell me what's going on.”

“Ah, right.” Mark relaxed and let an easy smile cross his lips, leaning over to grab a thick blanket lying nearby. The blanket was then thrown over both of them, creating a little makeshift tent and blocking out the soft light coming in from the open roof.

“What are you doing?” Jinyoung asked, confused.

“Patience, Love.” The other replied lightly, “There's something I wanna show you.”

The prince waited silently, trying to see whatever this elusive thing was that Mark was trying to show him in the dark.

He waited.

Nothing happened.

Jinyoung chuckled, “Mark, _what_ are you doing?”

The other man’s lips were suddenly pressing firmly against Jinyoung's, catching the prince off guard. Confused but pleasantly surprised, he let his eyes flutter closed, finally able to enjoy the feeling of being intimate with him. He reached a hand up and threaded his fingers through Mark's hair, tilting his head and deepening the kiss.

The first and last time they had done this, Jinyoung had been in both physical and emotional pain. This time, with his body healed and his mind just a little more at ease after speaking with Youngjae, everything felt ten times more amazing. Jinyoung tugged on Mark's hair, causing him to gasp into the kiss. The prince took advantage of the situation and snaked his tongue into the other's mouth, dragging slowly against his own.

Mark was the one to break the kiss, lips still placed gently against Jinyoung's as he smiled, “I love you.” He whispered, “And… there's something really important that you need to know…”

“What?” The prince asked, opening his eyes and immediately gasping.

Jinyoung could clearly see the other man as if it were broad daylight under the blanket.

Mark sat back, smiling contently. “Did you know… that light and darkness need each other to be complete? To create… everything?”

“Y-you're…” Jinyoung stuttered, eyes widening in shock, “But that's impossible, there is no such thing as a… a… light elemental.”

“I promise you, Love,” the other man started, fingertips beginning to glow a soft white, “There is.”

The Prince of Darkness’ heart pounded. A thousand thoughts ran through his head so fast that each one would slip away before he could pin them down.

He knew he should have asked a hundred more questions. He should have asked why literally _nobody_ in the palace – that had housed countless elementals over the centuries – ever said a word about light elementals being possible. Why would they hide it? How come there were no records in the history books of light elementals? What did this revelation mean for _him_? Why did Mark’s light have such a strong mental and physical effect on him? How many more elements was he unaware of?

Instead of asking any of those questions, however, his instinct caused him to lift his own elementally charged hand and tangle his fingers with Mark's, neutralizing his light with darkness.

Slowly, and still without a word, he increased the intensity of his power, feeling Mark do the same, matching the prince perfectly. It was surreal. Exhilarating. Beautiful, even though it was essentially invisible and, if anybody saw them, it would seem as if they were merely holding hands.

All the previous feelings Jinyoung had when he was around Mark grew more and more intense as their powers did until all the confusion gave way to total tranquility and belonging.

It was euphoric.

Simultaneously, they both dropped their respective elemental charges, Jinyoung sighing in contentment as he did.

“Wow… that’s…” the prince started softly, unable to put how he was feeling into words.

“Yeah…” Mark's smile faltered as he finally broke eye contact to look at their joined hands. He loosened his grip a little to play with the band that sat snugly around the base of Jinyoung’s finger. “Nice ring.” He spoke somewhat bitterly.

Jinyoung flashed him a sympathetic look before speaking softly, “I am engaged, Mark.”

“I know.” He paused before looking back at him, “Tell me… before we met… did you really wanna marry him?”

The prince's gaze fell to the soft quilt they were sitting on, “He's my best friend. He's… I do love him. I love him… in a different way from the other guys.” Lifting his head again, he continued, “But the way I feel about him is also different from the way I feel about _you_. I don't… ever remember being as happy as I am when I'm with you. Ever.”

“We were made for each other. You were meant to be mine.” Mark concluded. His expression darkened a little as his finger traced the blue strip decorating the other’s ring, “No one else’s…”

Jinyoung licked his lips, voice dropping to barely a whisper, “Then _make_ me yours…”

Mark didn't waste any time in recapturing Jinyoung's lips with his own, once again tightening his grip on the prince's hand. He moved forward, slowly coaxing Jinyoung to lay back until the back of his head touched the quilt, Mark licking passionately into his mouth, trying to get as physically intimate as they possibly could.

Moaning low in his throat as Mark's tongue battled with his, Jinyoung tangled his fingers in the other's hair before grinding up against him and pulling a gasp from him. Capitalizing on the distraction, the Prince of Darkness tugged on the strands between his fingers, causing Mark to bare his neck with a soft “Ah…” as Jinyoung immediately got to work biting, licking and sucking on the exposed skin.

Mark realized, in his lust clouded mind, that he was straddling Jinyoung and slowly rolled his hips, the added sensation making him moan unabashedly.

He did it again. And again. And again.

Until Jinyoung slipped his hand out of Mark's hair and trailed his fingers gently down his spine before slipping under his waistband.

Suddenly Mark pulled away, sitting up on his knees, “Wait... Hold on.” he panted out.

“What? What’s wrong?” The prince questioned.

Mark opened his mouth to say something but shut it almost immediately. Opting to stay silent and just maintain eye contact, he leaned forward and rested on one arm, using the other hand to once again play with the ring around the prince's finger. He twirled it a few times before slowly sliding it up to the bend of Jinyoung’s second knuckle.

They paused, eyes still locked, but completely still as neither really heard the dwindling sounds of the town surrounding them anymore over their own deafening heartbeats. There was an unspoken request hanging heavily in the air but Mark didn't push.

Jinyoung gulped as a flash of uncertainty sparked in his eyes before he visibly relaxed and straightened his fingers in a silent form of agreement.

Heart now pounding at a hundred miles per hour, Mark immediately swooped in and crushed their lips together again, making quick work of removing the ring. Wondering absent-mindedly what to do with it for a few seconds, all thoughts left his mind at the first touch of Jinyoung's tongue against his own and he opted to just fling it randomly to the side, not giving a damn about what happened to it as he finally let the light under the blanket dim until it was consumed by darkness once again.

Revelling in the euphoria of finally giving his body up to darkness as well.

 

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

 

“He's rebelling. We can't let this escalate any further. You know how dangerous this is!”

Jackson stood his ground, looking up at the intimidating palace official, “I'm aware. But I know him, he wouldn't do something like this without a reason. Give me a chance to get through to him. If I fail… then you can put out the warrant.”

“We don't even know where he is. With all due respect, Your Highness, you're in over your head.” The man replied.

“Give me a day.” The Ice Prince demanded, steely determination showing on his face, “You can at least grant me that.”

The man looked down his nose at the prince before turning around with a huff, “Fine. Twenty four hours. If he's not brought in for disciplinary action in that time, then we officially regard him as a criminal and take him down for treason.”

Jackson nodded as the man left the room, shutting the door behind him harder than he should have.

Silence fell over the room as the Ice Prince didn't move an inch, mind running at a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out how he would save his fiancé. Or if he even needed saving. Or wanted it.

“Hyung…?” Youngjae's sleepy voice piped up from the couch in the corner of Jackson's room. He had knocked on the Ice Prince’s door at 2 a.m, plagued by the guilt of not letting the court know that after he had healed Jinyoung, he then just kind of sat back and _let_ him leave with Jaebeom. He told Jackson everything and the older prince immediately summoned a few guards and a palace official, letting them know that he planned to head to the town first thing in the morning. The official, however, decided that Jinyoung would not get any more chances and wanted to put out a warrant for his arrest.

Jackson let out a deep breath slowly before turning and walking over to the younger, “I don't know what the fuck has gotten into him. He's not like this.”

“I think… he's being influenced.” Youngjae theorized, clutching the edges of the blanket wrapped around him, “That guy he was with earlier, it might be the same guy you saw him with the other night.”

“Yeah. That ‘interesting guy’ he met in town.” Jackson replied bitterly, remembering his conversation with Jinyoung from a few nights earlier.

The healer dropped his gaze, fidgeting nervously, “It's kinda scary, isn't it? It… kinda feels like history is repeating itself.”

“History?” The Ice Prince questioned, “Oh, you mean the old princess thing?”

“Yeah. She also… just started rebelling after she met someone.”

Jackson crossed his arms, “But… why? I don't know anything about the princess, but it took Jinyoung _one_ day to throw away everything he's known his whole life. There's gotta be a good reason, I refuse to believe he just met someone attractive or something like that, he's not that impulsive.”

“Hyung…” Youngjae pulled the blanket a little tighter around him, eyes still trained on the spot just in front of Jackson's feet, “I'm sorry… for not telling you earlier.”

The Ice Prince huffed before sitting down next to him, “Telling me is irrelevant. What I'm really confused about is why you helped them. And even then, why did you let them get away.”

Sighing, since he'd been asking himself that question all day, the younger replied, “He was hurt. I had to heal him or he'd run the risk of getting an infection or having the wound re-open and bleeding out or--”

“When you realized that they were plotting something, why didn't you just call for a guard?” Jackson demanded.

“It's _Jinyoung_ , Hyung.” Youngjae answered slowly, “I've known him my whole life, he's not a threat to me.”

“ _He_ might not be, but you invited that guy into your room too. He's the reason Jinyoung got hurt in the first place.”

The healer opened his mouth to say something but closed it abruptly, catching the attention of the older prince.

“What?” Jackson asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Nothing, I just… I heard… something different from them.”

“What did you hear?”

Youngjae fidgeted, “I heard that... _you_ attacked him…”

The Ice Prince winced before looking around the room, trying to think of how to respond to that accusation. He turned back to his companion and replied softly, “It was an accident… I tried to hit the other guy.”

“I see...” The healer mumbled, obviously trying not to mention that Jinyoung also had terrible injuries on both his feet.

Silence fell heavily between them but the subtle tightening of the younger's grip on his blanket didn't go unnoticed.

“Youngjae, you know as well as I do that Jinyoung running away like this can only be bad for the kingdom.” Jackson reasoned, voice low and serious, “I had to do anything I could to stop him.”

Youngjae nodded slowly in an attempt to just get out of this confusing situation, “Ok, Hyung…”

After a beat of silence, Jackson stood up and started making his way to his bed, “Go to bed. Get a couple hours of sleep. I'm gonna head out at dawn.”

There was no way in hell Youngjae would get any sleep any time soon, but he got up anyway. Hopefully, come morning, Jackson will find Jinyoung, bring him back to the palace and things can go back to how they were before.

He knew the probability of that happening was a million to one, but hope was all he had at that point.

 

 

 

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

**•┈┈┈••✧✦✧••┈┈┈•**

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**


	5. Chapter V

Luck was never really on Jaebeom's side, as far as he could remember. However, between getting Jinyoung to trust not only Mark, but Jaebeom himself, along with the fact that their plan to heal the Prince of Darkness _and_ plant just the smallest seed of doubt in Youngjae's mind went smoother than expected; everything seemed to be looking up.

Until he stepped out of a dodgy bar at 5 a.m and suddenly felt like he was, quite literally, burning up from the inside.

The Ice Prince was nearby.

Panic spread throughout his body as he acted on pure adrenaline and sprinted down the dirt road.

No.

He could not be here.

Not yet.

Clumsily bumping into things as he ran, he finally made his way to his run down home, climbing the stairs frantically. He reached the top floor and immediately got to his knees, sliding painfully on the hard brick floor.

“Mark, wake up!” He whispered harshly. He placed a hand on the other man with the intention of shaking him awake, only to pull back as Mark let out a pained gasp and quickly shifted to place a hand over the bright red patch of skin where he'd just been burned.

“Ow! What the fuck are you doing?” The light elemental hissed through gritted teeth.

“Sorry.” Jaebeom replied, standing up and keeping his hands to himself because Jackson's presence was clearly affecting him, “You have to get up, we have a problem.”

A soft whine sounded from next to Mark, and Jaebeom, in his frantic state, just noticed the shock of black hair and, oh yeah, the Prince of Darkness was their new roommate for a while.

“What's going on?” Jinyoung mumbled sleepily, peeking out from under the blankets.

Mark turned toward him, expression softening, “It’s nothing, don't worry. Go back to sleep, there's still a couple hours ‘til the sun comes up.”

Jinyoung seemed to accept that and closed his eyes again. He sighed in contentment as the other man placed a soft kiss on his temple, gently stroking his hair.

“That's cute. But we have _no_ time for your honeymooning right now.” Jaebeom interrupted before turning on his heels and making for the stairs, “Get dressed and meet me downstairs.”

Mark groaned in annoyance, making sure that Jinyoung was asleep before he reluctantly pulled the blanket off of him and rolled out of the makeshift bed. He picked up his strewn about clothes and put it on quickly.

He suddenly noticed something shining out of the corner of his eye and spotted Jinyoung's ring lying innocently in the corner of the room. With one last lingering look at the Prince of Darkness sleeping peacefully, Mark bent down and picked up the ring before running downstairs.

“What's wrong?” He asked, spotting Jaebeom on the lowest floor, leaning against the wall.

“Icey's in town.”

Mark frowned, “Why?”

“Looking for his boyfriend that you stole, I assume.” the other man replied, moving to stand on one side of the open doorway and looking around outside.

Mark joined him, leaning against the opposite side, “So what do we do?”

“You have to get rid of him somehow.” Jaebeom spoke, “He can't find me or the prince now, or our whole plan will be fucked.”

The other man sighed, “This isn’t exactly ideal, but I'll… try to find a way to get him to the boat monument and keep him there as long as possible. You need to get everything done tonight, we obviously can't stall any longer.”

“Yeah. I know.”

Mark stretched, stepping outside, “Ok. In the meantime, you can get Jinyoung some breakfast.”

“What do I tell him when he inevitably asks where you are?” Jaebeom questioned, eyebrows raising.

The light elemental paused before replying, “Tell him the truth. I'm almost positive he won't care _too_ much.”

 

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

 

“Your Majesty…”

Jackson turned in the direction of the voice, spotting a man nearby, down on one knee with his head bowed. “Yes?”

The man looked up, his sparkling eyes locking with the prince's, “I… uh… I have information.”

“Information about what?” He asked, eyebrows drawing together in intrigue.

Mark stood, glancing around to make sure none of the other townspeople were nearby enough to hear them before he continued, voice soft, “I assume you're looking for Ji--… Prince Jinyoung.”

The Ice Prince narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Nobody had said a word about Jinyoung to the general public yet. There had been no announcement or rumors or anything, so the fact that this guy knew that they were looking for the Prince of Darkness meant that he must have really known something.

“How do you know that?” he asked softly, beckoning the guards closer to listen in.

“I saw him last night.” Mark replied equally soft, trying his hardest not to break character because, yeah, he saw _a lot_ of him last night, “He was with Jaebeom and they were talking about going over to the next town because this one was becoming unsafe.”

Jaebeom. There was that name again. Jackson had been hearing way too much about him since this whole thing started, “Did they leave?”

“I don't know.” The other man spoke, “I assume so, I haven't seen either of them this morning.”

“Take me to the next town.” Jackson suddenly demanded, causing Mark's eyes to widen. He hadn't expected it to be _that_ easy.

“Your highness,” a guard piped up behind him, “We should take a carriage and make our way there on our own.”

The Ice Prince crossed his arms, ignoring him and still facing Mark, “Is the next town far from here?”

The other man nodded, “Uh, on foot it's about… two to three hours away? Something like that.”

“Do you travel there often?”

“Yeah, all the time.” Mark lied, making things up as he went, “I was born there, so most of my family is there.”

“So you know the place quite intimately then.” That was more of a statement than a question, “That's why I want you to take us there. We'll have more luck and cover more ground with a local by our side. Even if you're only half-local.”

“Um…” Mark looked around unsurely.

The Ice Prince took a step closer to him, dropping his voice even lower, “That's an order. If you don't assist us, that entire town will be wiped off the map in the blink of an eye.”

Mark just barely resisted the urge to laugh or make some sort of sarcastic 'ooh scary’ remark and instead bowed his head, “Yes sir.”

This worked out a bit too well for him, it was almost suspicious. But he figured that Jackson was subconsciously feeling Jaebeom's presence and his automatic reaction was to get as far away from him as possible.

Not that Mark was complaining.

“Besides…” Jackson continued, “I can't count out the possibility that you're in cahoots with them too, so I want you in my sight at all times.”

“Fair enough.” Mark shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking past the prince, “Follow me.”

 

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

 

Jinyoung woke up with a start at the loud voices shouting somewhere near him. He scrambled to throw the blanket off of him so he could go on the offensive, only to wince and squint at the too bright light of the mid-morning sun. Calming down a little once he realized that the slowly fading voices sounded like just a friendly, albeit excited, conversation between people walking down the road outside, he sighed, stretched out and took in his current state.

He was still in Mark's bed, still naked and still a fugitive. He was tired and his lower back ached from sleeping on the floor rather than in his comfortable, soft bed. But he was also alone, which was not something he was used to, never mind being alone in a strange, run down town where anyone seeing him could compromise his position.

The place was unnerving without Mark there. Even though it was broad daylight, Jinyoung still felt anxious.

He tensed as he heard the sound of heavy footsteps making their way toward him and instinctively covered the entire room in a veil of darkness in an attempt to hide himself, putting his guard up.

“Relax, Prince, it's just me.” Jaebeom's familiar voice called calmly through the dark fog.

Jinyoung let out a relieved sigh and slowly let the darkness dissipate. His eyes landed on Jaebeom standing at the top of the stairs and holding two brown bags. He flashed the prince a crooked grin, stepping forward and tossing one of the bags at Jinyoung.

“Breakfast.” Was all the other man said as he moved to the wall opposite the bed, dropped his bag and immediately pulled his shirt off, chucking it down the stairs to the lower floor, “How you feeling?”

“My back hurts…” Jinyoung admitted off-handedly, eyes scanning over all the scars and marks decorating the other's body, fascinated for no real reason other than he'd never seen anything like it, growing up with a healer and everything. He didn't really get to _see_ Mark last night, thanks to the blanket, but he had to assume that this was a common thing for a lot of people.

“Enjoying the view, Prince?”

Snapping out of it at the sound of the voice of the man he just realized he was ogling, Jinyoung shook his head, “Sorry. The ‘view’ is nice and all, but I was just…”

“‘Just’..?” The other prompted, wearing a suggestive smirk, “Fantasizing? Thinking dirty thoughts, your majesty? I can help with that, you know.”

“I bet you could, but no thanks.” The prince replied simply, “I mean, you're good looking. And you've got a nice body… but you're not Mark.”

Jaebeom’s smirk morphed into a smile as he sat down against the wall and grabbed his paper bag, “That's good. Because I don't steal from family.”

Oh. Right. Jinyoung had meant to ask about that.

“So, I assume Mark told you everything. About the elemental oppositions.” The other started, pulling out his sandwich and biting into it.

“He did tell me some things,” the prince replied, “but I still have so many questions.”

“Ask away.”

Jinyoung took in a breath, trying to collect his thoughts, “Firstly; you're… you're Jackson's… opposite, aren't you?”

Jaebeom gave him a thumbs up, swallowing the food in his mouth before replying with a “Correct.”

“So that means you're a fire elemental, right?”

“Correct.”

“Ok…” the prince glanced down as if committing that to memory before moving on. Looking back at Jaebeom, he continued, “How… is that possible? Fire elementals, light elementals… as far as I know, they don't exist. But you and Mark are living proof, so… just… how..?”

Jaebeom chuckled, “Well… to put it simply… the court that you guys blindly follow has been lying to you your whole lives. Well, not just you, everyone.”

“What do you mean?”

“From what you know, there's only four elements. That's a lie. There are eight.”

“Opposites…”

“Exactly.” Jaebeom clicked his tongue, “So, thousands of years ago… or maybe hundreds, I dunno, but… a _long_ time ago, some asshole in the palace realized that having two opposites in the same or close vicinity was highly unpredictable and made the very moral decision that, in order to keep the peace, four of those elements had to be permanently eliminated.” He shrugged, “So they killed them. And then went on like they never existed.”

“How were they unpredictable?” Jinyoung questioned, sitting and listening like a child at school.

“I don't know for sure. But take us, for example.” The other man continued, “You and Mark, darkness and light; the entire world is a combination of darkness and light, they can't exist without each other. So you two are drawn to one another because you need each other to be complete, you can't fully exist unless you're together. Mark wasn’t nearly as lively and… happy before he met you.”

Jinyoung tilted his head, “I was the same. That's… really weird to think about.”

Jaebeom nodded, “On the other hand, fire and ice can't coexist, one will always overpower the other. Because of that, my default feelings for the Ice Prince is to melt him before he puts me out. Basically. That's why he instinctively hated me the other night.”

“So you feel as strongly about him as I feel about Mark… but in a different way?”

“Uh-Huh.”

“So, are there any water and earth opposites?”

“There most likely were, at some point. I don't know if there's any living at the moment.”

The Prince of Darkness pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes, a little overwhelmed by all the information but soaking up every word. “Ok. This is a lot to take in. You know what;” he opened his eyes again, seeing spots for a few seconds, “I'm gonna need time to think about all that. For now, let me ask you an easier question; how are you and Mark related?”

“The short answer; he's my brother.” Jaebeom replied simply.

“What's the long answer?”

“You said you wanted an easy question.” The other man teased, “The _slightly_ longer answer is that he's my half-brother. We share a father.”

“Oh. So… your father was an elemental?”

“Hmm… kind of? But not quite.”

Jinyoung frowned in confusion but said nothing, obviously trying unsuccessfully to put the pieces together.

Jaebeom chuckled, “Alright, story time, Prince. Make yourself comfortable.” He cleared his throat, “I assume you've heard of the princess that caused the elemental genocide.”

“Of course.” Jinyoung replied.

“Well, did you know she was a dark elemental?”

“Yeah, I think I did hear that at some point.”

“Aaand, do you remember _when_ she turned on everyone?” Jaebeom sing-songed, noticing the realization slowly creeping up into the prince's expression.

“After she… fell in love with someone…”

Jaebeom grinned, “Any idea who that someone might have been?”

“A light elemental…” Jinyoung's voice was at a near whisper as a legend that he'd heard of his whole life suddenly became so much more real, “But… why would she want to kill everyone?”

The other man shrugged, “No idea. That's between the two of them. They obviously planned everything together and went on a murderous rampage.”

“But they were caught before they could kill _everyone_ , weren't they?”

“Mmm… yes and no.” Jaebeom answered, “They finished what they set out to do. They killed every adult elemental in some way.”

Jinyoung frowned, “Just the adults?”

“Yup. Eight elemental children survived. Years later, some of them had kids and those kids had kids of their own and one of _those_ kids… is you.”

“Right. I figured as much. But that doesn't explain _your_ heritage. Or why the Princess of Darkness let the kids live.”

The other shifted, “Why do _you_ think she wouldn't want to hurt the children?”

“Did she have a child of her o--...” He paused, mouth open in realization, “You're related to her?”

“Patience, Prince, one step at a time.” Jaebeom smirked, “But you're right, she was pregnant at the time. A few months later, their baby was born. This child was the only known person to be born to two opposing elementals. She could have easily been the most powerful person to ever exist. But… she grew up with foster parents and chose not to use her power. Ever.”

“What happened to her real parents?”

“They weren’t captured like all the history books say, they willingly gave themselves up to the court. Then they were both executed. Eventually, the child grew up and had two kids; a girl and then a boy a few years later. As you may know, elementals can only have one elemental child. That’s like the one true thing you guys were taught, by the way. Um, the older child, the little girl, was clearly an elemental. However, their family lived here, in the rundown part of town, and couldn't afford good medical care, so when the girl got fatally ill, they couldn't afford to save her and she died at around four years old. Her younger brother grew up normally, with no elemental power and no connection to the palace, just a normal guy. But… Prince, what happens to children in the palace who are not born with any elemental power?”

“They get cast out for being useless.”

Jaebeom grinned, “Did you know… that non-elementals born to elemental parents can still have elemental children? In fact, based on my family, they can have multiple elemental children.”

“So that was your father.” Jinyoung deduced, trying to keep track of the family tree he was being described.

“Yeah. So… my dad wasn't… the most standup guy. He married a woman, my mother, but was cheating on her with another woman, Mark's mother. They both got pregnant a few months apart, hence, y'know, the whole half-brother thing.”

“So maybe… it's not that non-elementals can have more than one elemental child. Maybe it's just… they can have multiple kids with multiple partners?” The prince theorized.

“Maybe.” Jaebeom replied, chuckling, “That's not really the important part of that story though.”

“I'm just curious ‘cause I know of someone who was cast out for being non-elemental.” Jinyoung admitted, “He was a year or two older than me, so he'd be old enough to have a child, I guess. If he's still alive, obviously.”

“So there's a chance there's a little baby elemental running around, huh? That's interesting to think about.”

“Wait, I have another question.” The prince started, tilting his head, “If you and Mark are brothers, how do you have different powers?”

“My father had the blood of light and dark elementals in him. Mark inherited the light side and I got fire through mutation.”

“Mutation?”

“You know about mutation, Prince, your healer has mutated powers.”

“Well yeah, but… oh… this is… something else that's been a lie my whole life, isn't it..?”

“Of course.” Jaebeom laughed, lifting his index finger, “Let's see… ‘Only dark elementals can have a mutated child and that child can either be one of the four elements or a special mutation, such as teleportation, time control, etcetera’. Is that about right?”

“That's what we were all taught.”

“Yeah. No. Dark elementals can have mutated children of any of the eight elements or a special mutation. But even regular elementals can have mutated children, the only difference is that those kids always mutate into the opposing element. Hence why you haven't heard of it.”

“That… makes sense. There were a few instances where kids just mysteriously died in the palace shortly after birth. Did they… was the court murdering children with opposing elements..?”

“Most likely, I'd assume.”

“Oh god…”

Silence reigned between the two. Everything Jinyoung had known his entire life was crashing down around him and he had no idea how to handle it. How he could somehow make it right.

“Don't think too hard, Prince.”

Jinyoung ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it in frustration before sighing deeply, “So, uh, where's Mark?”

“He's… uh… with…” Jaebeom stuttered somewhat nervously before clearing his throat, “He's with the Ice Prince.”

“What?” Jinyoung asked, brows furrowed, “Why?”

“He came to the town with a bunch of guards looking for you and we can't have that until you figure out what you want to do from here, so Mark is trying to keep him away for as long as he can.”

“How does he plan to keep him away?” The prince asked suspiciously.

“He's not gonna hurt him, if that's what you're worried about.” The other man assured, “He’s gonna take him to the south and try and stall him there. Waste his time a little and maybe get him lost so he’ll take longer to find his way back here.”

“How would he do that?”

“He's a light elemental, Prince, he's not exactly the aggressive type. He's cunning, he'll find a way.” he took a deep breath, “Trust him.”

“Yeah, ok…” Jinyoung glanced down, noticing he hadn't even touched his breakfast. Even though he distanced himself from Jackson, and as much as he loved Mark, he never wanted the Ice Prince to get hurt; either physically or emotionally. Jinyoung was pretty sure the engagement was off, but Jackson had been his best friend for his entire life and he still cared deeply for him. And now, with everything he’d learned, he hoped Jackson would understand. He hoped he would forgive him.

In the meantime, however, there was someone else he owed his life to. And a long overdue explanation.

He looked back up, locking eyes with Jaebeom, “Could you do me a favour?”

“What?”

“I need you to help me with a promise I made to someone.”

 

 

 

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

**•┈┈┈••✧✦✧••┈┈┈•**

**•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so we're on track with AFF now. That means the next update will be on Wednesday.  
> I hope you're enjoying this story so far~
> 
> Thank you to Laurne and teenager for the comments! I really love feedback and those comments made my day. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story.
> 
> Thanks also to Aroonz, teenager, HereForSupport (LarryIsReal_DealWithIt) and Byz_ie and all the guests that gave me kudos! Thank you so much <3


	6. Chapter VI

“Good afternoon, Your Majesty.”

Youngjae nearly jumped out of his skin as a voice greeted him the moment he walked into his room.

“W-what the hell?” The healer stuttered, spotting Jaebeom sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the window, “What are you doing here? How did you get in here? What do you want?”

Jaebeom lifted both his hands in defense, “I'm just here to be the messenger.” He stood and held out a small, crudely made envelope, “It's from the Prince of Darkness. He said he made you a promise and wanted me to deliver this to you by hand, since he can't be sure you would have even received it if it went through the court first.”

Youngjae froze in place, eyes narrowed suspiciously at the envelope. Jinyoung was always one to keep his promises, but the younger prince had a hard time trusting the person who had been tasked to deliver it.

The man grinned, “C'mon, Sweetheart, I promise I won't bite.”

“That's… reassuring…” the healer mumbled, taking a few cautious steps toward the intimidating man. He paused, for a moment, eyes searching Jaebeom's entire body for signs of any kind of aggression before finally reaching up and gingerly taking hold of the letter.

He quickly pulled it to his chest, taking a step back while still eying the other wearily, earning a laugh from Jaebeom, “I’m not that scary, Angel. Relax.”

“Last time I saw you, you attacked me.” Youngjae stated matter-of-factly.

“Huh?” his companion tilted his head in confusion, “Oh. That. Right. Sorry about that, we couldn’t risk you calling for a guard.”

“Who are you anyway?” the prince asked suddenly, “I mean… you and Jinyoung Hyung… How do you know each other? Why would he suddenly leave the palace for you?”

“Well…” Jaebeom lifted a hand to count on his fingers, “Firstly, I’ve only known him for a few days. He’s more… acquainted with my brother than me. Secondly, he didn’t leave the palace for me. He didn’t leave because of me either. I actually had very little to do with that, other than just being a means of helping him to leave.”

“Then why did he leave? Who’s the guy he spoke to Jackson Hyung about? The one that made him rebel?”

The other man grinned, “All of that is explained in that letter. Straight from the Prince of Darkness’ mouth. Well, not really his mouth, but… he wrote it.”

Youngjae narrowed his eyes, “Now that I think about it; how can I be sure that Jinyoung Hyung really did write this? What if you’re just trying to trick me into believing what you want me to?”

“You can compare his handwriting or something, I dunno. I can’t make you believe me.” Jaebeom shrugged, “But hold on, you didn’t let me answer your first question. I had a whole thing planned.”

The prince blinked, “What?”

Wide grin returning to his face, Jaebeom spun around and swiftly closed the curtain over the window that he’d entered from, “How about we get some mood lighting in here, Darling?”

“Mood lighting?”

He turned back to the healer, “I noticed you have a lot of candles in here.”

Youngjae frowned, more confused than anything, “I… like candles…”

“Hey, check this out.” Jaebeom started as he lifted both hands, turning up his nose and clapping twice like a snooty aristocrat calling for his butler. All at once, every candle in the room lit up, startling the prince who was now even more confused.

“How did you..? What the hell..?” Youngjae glanced around, trying to make sense of how all seventeen candles of all shapes and sizes were suddenly burning.

The other man chuckled and turned his palm up, materializing a small floating flame that resembled a heart, “Mood lighting.”

Youngjae’s eyes widened and Jaebeom was quick to extinguish the flame in his hand and lift his index finger.

“Before you ask; everything is in that letter, I promise.” He blew out a breath before looking down at the floor. After a pause, he slowly looked back up at the other man with a dark, seductive smirk spread across his lips, “However…”

The prince tensed at the way his aura changed in the blink of an eye and took a step back, too on edge from the newly induced anxiety to form a coherent question about the candles.

“The letter is just an explanation, but I have a bit more info that I wanna share with you alone.” Jaebeom started, taking slow steps toward the smaller man, causing a chain reaction of Youngjae taking another step back “You should consider yourself lucky. You're cute, I like you.”

Another step. Forward. Backward.

“So I'm gonna tell you a little secret.” He smirked, leaning forward a little.

Another step. Forward. Backward.

“Everything ends tonight. One way or another.” He whispered.

Another step. Forward. Backward.

“The Ice Prince is near the boat monument to the south. He needs to be healed and brought back here as soon as possible.”

“W-what?” Youngjae stuttered.

Another step. Forward. Backward.

“If he isn't… then nobody will survive the night.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Another step. Forward. Backward.

And Youngjae felt his back hit the wall.

“You got that?”

Another step. Forward.

Forward again.

Until they were so close, Youngjae could feel the other’s higher than normal body temperature.

Jaebeom placed his hands on the wall, caging the younger's body, “You, My Dear, need to read that letter, pack up a bunch of your little guard friends, go to the boat monument, heal the Ice Prince and bring him back here tonight.” He leaned in close, gently running his fingertips over the healer's jaw and letting his other hand rest on the prince’s waist as he continued, speaking low and deep, “And then… when you get back, you have the choice… to stay with Icey…” his thumb slowly glided across Youngjae's bottom lip, “Or you can come to me… I'll take care of you…”

Youngjae gulped, mentally cursing himself for the shivers that ran through his body at the other man’s soft touches. Nothing good could come out of what Jaebeom was saying, he knew that. But for a moment – just for a split second – he wanted him.

Badly.

Capitalizing on the smaller man’s moment of weakness and spurred on by the spark of dark lust in his eyes, Jaebeom wasted no time in closing the distance between them. He was a little too harsh. A little too rough. Almost immediately, he slipped his tongue into the prince’s mouth, taking as much pleasure as he could from what he knew would be a fleeting, once-off moment.

As if on cue, Youngjae moaned softly in the back of his throat before he immediately gasped with the realization of what he was doing and shoved him away.

Panting a little, Jaebeom licked his lips and leaned down to be on eye level with his companion, “Come with me tonight.”

The prince looked everywhere except at the other man, “That’s… never gonna happen…”

Jaebeom sighed deeply, turning and walking back toward the window, “Whatever you say, Babe. But the offer still stands.” He turned a large, cheesy grin on the prince, “Just say the word and we can continue where we left off.”

 

•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•

 

Walking in dead silence, in the middle of nowhere, with the Ice Prince and four royal guards was a little intimidating, Mark had to admit. There was the very real possibility that Jackson could randomly decide that he was done with this little excursion and kill him on the spot.

Not only would that ruin all of their plans, but he also hadn’t gotten the chance to brag yet…

They had been traveling for over two hours already and would be at the boat monument in around five more minutes and Mark was getting more and more nervous the closer they got. He wasn't exactly given the easiest task. Jackson was a force to be reckoned with and he had four guards backing him up too. This would require a certain amount of luck.

And having the ability to bend light wouldn’t hurt either.

The monument peeked out from above the hill and Mark took in a deep breath.

It was now or never…

He halted his steps, causing everyone else to stop as well.

“Is something wrong?” Jackson asked.

Mark shook his head, “No. I'm just curious about something.”

“What?”

“Tell me…” having kept his left hand in his pocket throughout the entire trip, he finally lifted it up to show off the black, blue striped ring around his finger, “Does this look familiar to you?”

A look of shock crossed the Ice Prince's features before quickly morphing into a white hot rage as he lunged at the other man, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, “How the fuck did you get that? What did you do to him?”

“Nothing. Oh, well actually…” Mark smirked, looking down his nose at the shorter, “I did do some beautifully unspeakable things to him last night, but I really don't think that's what you mean.”

Jackson growled, reeling a hand back and punching Mark in the side of his jaw, still holding onto his collar so he couldn't get away. “Where the hell is he?”

The other man shook his head to regain his senses, “I dunno. Still in my bed maybe?”

Another punch to the face, this time sending him stumbling back as the prince let go of his shirt.

Realizing that none of the guards had tried to back him up, Jackson glanced over his shoulder and gasped at the sight behind him. All four of the guards lay on the ground, mortally wounded if not dead, with blood staining their weapons. It was almost as if they'd all attacked each other.

He turned a glare back onto Mark, “What the hell did you do?”

“That's a secret, Icey.” Mark replied with an exaggerated wink and a finger placed over his lips, “If I reveal all my tricks, things won't be fun anymo--”

He was cut off by an ice dagger darting towards him. Managing to move out of the way just a moment too late, he felt the sharp edge of the ice slice shallowly through the skin just below his eye. The pain was considerably worse than Mark had expected it to be – probably due to the fact that it wasn’t just cutting him, but frostbiting him at the same time – and he thought about the wound on Jinyoung's side a few days ago and how much that must have hurt and he suddenly felt… angry.

Jackson lunged for him in an attempt to punch him again and, in a split second decision, Mark thrust his hand out, managing to get his fingers over the other's eyes before using as much raw power as he could in an attempt to burn the prince's retinas.

The Ice Prince stumbled backwards and promptly fell to his knees, blinking wildly in an attempt to clear his vision, to no avail, as his panic quickly heightened.

Mark let out a sigh of relief. He’d never blinded somebody before – he never really had the chance or a reason to do it – but he tucked away the knowledge that it was possible for future reference. Suddenly realizing that, yeah, Jackson was blind, but he could still kill him with a snap of his fingers, Mark walked up to him, slowly sliding the ring off his finger in the process.

As soon as he was close enough, he grabbed one of Jackson's flailing hands and swiftly pressed the ring against his palm and closed the prince’s fingers over it, “You can keep this. I'm sure he doesn't need it anymore.”

With that, he turned on his heels and hastily started making his way back.

 

•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•

 

“You're not listening to me, he's a freaking elemental!” Youngjae shouted in annoyance, “What don't you understand about that?!”

“With all due respect, Your Highness, that's not possible.” a palace guard argued, “There's no such thing as a fire elemental.”

The prince let out an exasperated sigh, “I saw it with my own two eyes. He not only lit seventeen candles just by clapping his hands together, he also conjured up a flame right in front of me. I know what I saw, you have to believe me!”

“Yes, Your Highness. I will inform the higher-ups.” The man replied soullessly, still looking infuriatingly skeptical as he bowed before turning and heading for the door. Youngjae slapped his palms over his face and groaned in irritation.

After Jaebeom left, Youngjae had read the letter he was given. It was, as he had said, a letter from Jinyoung explaining as much as he could. Everything from the way he and Mark met to the strange way he felt to Mark and Jaebeom's powers to their lineage and everything in between. He didn't completely understand, but it did kind of explain why everything had suddenly turned upside down in a matter of days.

The fact that Jaebeom was an elemental also made everything he'd said to Youngjae earlier sound like a threat and the prince had taken that information to everyone in the palace in the hopes of stopping whatever he had planned. He didn’t mention Jinyoung’s letter, especially since barely anybody seemed to take him seriously anyway.

“Hyung, I'll stay here and be the first line of defense.” Yugyeom piped up as soon as the guard left the room, “Take BamBam and find Jackson.”

The healer sighed, moving his hands away from his face, “No, I think you both should stay here. I'll just take a few guards.”

“That's dangerous, Hyung.”

“No. I… I could be wrong, but I don't think they want to hurt me.” Youngjae theorized, “They want to recruit me.”

Yugyeom's eyes widened, “Did he say that?”

The other man nodded, “Both times, he asked me to join them. And he, uh… told me that, once I get back tonight, I have to make a choice between staying loyal to the court or… being with him.”

“You're not… I mean… you're not… considering it, are you?”

“Of course not!” Youngjae snapped immediately.

“Ok, sorry.” The younger apologized, dropping his gaze to the floor “It's just… y’know… Jinyoung Hyung…”

The healer let took in deep breath and then let it out slowly, studying the Water Prince’s face for a moment. “Yugyeom…” He looked around the empty room, just to make completely sure that they were alone before digging in his inner pocket and pulling out the letter, “You need to see this.”

Yugyeom took the letter curiously, “What is it?”

“Just read it. Carefully.” He commanded, “I can't waste any more time, I'm gonna go. Get BamBam, show him the letter and keep an eye out for any suspicious activity.”

“Will do.” The younger assured, “Be careful.”

 

•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•

 

Youngjae had rounded up a few guards and taken to the road via carriage. They'd been traveling for close to an hour and the prince knew they had to be getting close. The closer they got, the more Youngjae thought everything over.

Jinyoung left because he found out that the court had been lying to him his entire life. Or maybe not. Maybe he left purely because he was in love with Mark and found out everything later, Youngjae wasn't sure. But he left. And because he left, they were now aware of the existence of the four opposing elements, something the healer was still having a hard time wrapping his head around.

There was also Jinyoung and Jackson's confrontation and Jinyoung showing up at the palace a day later with deep wounds on his body. Then Jackson admitting that he was the one who injured his own fiancé so severely. The thought of the people he'd known and been so close with all his life suddenly being against each other made him realize that things were far more serious than he’d originally thought.

Somehow, he was probably the most curious about Mark. He'd never met him, but the thought of a light elemental was intriguing. Youngjae wasn't sure if his interest in the man was because he was a mutated dark elemental himself - coming from a line of darkness - but that idea seemed quite plausible after everything he'd learned in the last few hours.

Then there was Jaebeom… They had met twice now and the man had given Youngjae, on both occasions, the option to join their little resistance group. He never actually considered it - he was far too loyal to the kingdom and his fellow princes - but it was interesting to see just how much Jaebeom wanted him with them.

He felt his pulse race as he, for the millionth time in the past two hours, thought about that kiss before snapping out of his thoughts as one of the guards notified him that they were nearing the boat monument.

Heart racing in anxiety now, Youngjae looked out through the window, not completely sure what he'd find. Jaebeom only told him that Jackson was injured, he didn't mention to what extent and the prince was bracing himself for all of the worst case scenarios he could come up with.

He gasped.

The bodies of four palace guards littered the ground and Youngjae felt dread wash over him. What if Jackson was dead? What if Jaebeom sent him on this wild goose chase so they could kill him too? What if he was wrong and Jinyoung really was just a traitor?

“Ah! Your Highness!” The driver of the carriage called, “In front! I think that's the Ice Prince!”

Youngjae scrambled to try and see the front and, sure enough, there was Jackson standing in the middle of the road, waving his hands frantically.

The carriage came to a stop and Youngjae jumped out as quick as he could, sprinting to the seemingly disoriented man.

“Hyung! Are you ok? What happened?” He asked frantically, catching up to him.

“Youngjae?” Jackson asked, recognizing the healer’s voice. He reached forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, “What's going on? How did you know I was here?”

“Uh… Jiny--...” He paused before shaking his head “Nevermind, I'll explain everything in a moment. Are you hurt?”

Jackson didn't miss the name drop, but chose to ignore it in favour of addressing the current issue, “Not hurt, but… my eyes…”

His unfocused, unseeing eyes suddenly became very apparent and Youngjae nodded, “Ok. Let's get you to the carriage, I'll heal you there so you don't pass out on the floor.” He held Jackson's hand and slowly started leading him back to the carriage, “How did this happen, Hyung?”

Jackson sighed, “Some guy… from the town. I don't know how, he put his fingers on my eyes and everything went white for a while and then there was just… nothing.”

“Why were you in the middle of nowhere with someone from the town?”

“He… he knows Jinyoung.” The Ice Prince muttered, “He had his ring.”

The healer gulped. None of that sounded like something a fire elemental could do, Jackson had no burns or physical injuries of any sort. Plus, he had met Jaebeom before and probably would have recognized him. So it could only have been Mark that did this.

And Youngjae hated the fact that he liked the cunning creativity that the light elemental possessed.

 

•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•

 

“Ow!” Mark hissed through gritted teeth.

“Oh, stop whining.” Jaebeom scolded, cleaning the cut on Mark's face with some sort of alcohol, “You brought this upon yourself. You were supposed to just stall him, I know you provoked him just so you could gloat about stealing his man.”

“It still hurts, you asshole.” The other man complained.

Jinyoung sat on Mark’s bed, behind the light elemental, leaning his chin on the other man’s shoulder as he watched Jaebeom work on patching him up. He hadn't been out of the building the whole day - as he obviously would have been recognized - and had a good bit of time to be by himself and just think.

Now that he seemed to be out of any immediate danger for the time being, he started to think about the whole crazy situation a lot more. The most prominent thought in his mind was the heavy question of ‘where do we go from here?’ He didn't have a long term plan. Hell, he didn't have a short term plan other than to just stay in the town and be with Mark and learn as much as he could from Jaebeom.

He'd thought a lot about the Princess of Darkness too. He was similar to her, clearly. But he wasn't going to turn homicidal anytime soon and didn't really understand why she had done what she did. If history really was repeating itself with him and Mark taking on the roles of the star crossed lovers, then something incredibly drastic would have to happen before Jinyoung would kill anyone.

“So, what fun activities did you guys do today?” Mark mumbled miserably as Jaebeom placed a makeshift gauze over his still painful wound.

“Well, I wrote a letter.” Jinyoung replied, “That was fun. Also, I hung out with Jaebeom and we talked about everything we possibly could. Pretty much every conversation somehow found it’s way back to the topic of cats though.”

“Oh, yeah, he does that.” The light elemental laughed and snuggled closer to the man leaning on his shoulder.

Jaebeom ignored the duo and pushed his supplies to the corner of the room before flopping down on the bed next to Jinyoung, “I made out with a prince.”

“Hey, me too.” Mark piped up immediately, reaching a hand out to give the other man a lazy hi five.

Jinyoung chuckled and turned his attention to the fire elemental, “You should’ve come to the party at the palace the other night. Everyone’s so focused on trying to catch a prince anyway, you probably could have just snuck in and nobody would know.” He smirked, “Y’know… since you seem to be trying to marry into royalty and all.”

“Oh sure, that'd be ideal.” Jaebeom replied sarcastically, “That's exactly what I want: to be directly controlled by the court. Yup.”

“That's a shame. You probably have a pretty good chance, to be honest.” The other man replied coyly, “Youngjae was always weak for the bad guys.”

Jaebeom turned a matching smirk on the other, “Is that how you see me, Prince? A ‘bad guy’?”

“You do give off that kind of vibe.” Jinyoung admitted, “That sort of sexy, like… ‘I shouldn't have to tell you to get on your knees, you should already be undoing my zip’ kinda vibe.”

The fire elemental snorted, “You know, your dirty mind caught me off guard the first time. But this time I was ready for you.”

“I don’t think you’ll ever be ready for m--”

“So, uh…” Mark interrupted suddenly, “If you guys wanna be alone, I can just get the fuck out of here.”

The two laughed and Jinyoung turned to his other half, leaning awkwardly over his shoulder to kiss him. Shifting a little and gently coaxing Mark to do the same, he sighed in contentment at the more comfortable position, nibbling on his lover's bottom lip before tilting his head more and kissing him again, slow and lazy, like they had all the time in the world to explore each other.

“Ugh, my eyes…” Jaebeom groaned, placing his hands over his face, “I'm happy for you guys and all, but I would much prefer you not eating each other's faces in my presence, thanks.”

Mark broke the kiss, still holding Jinyoung close, “Yeah, well, I would prefer you not flirting with my man.”

The fire elemental scoffed, “Um, I'm pretty sure he was the one thinking about, quote, ‘undoing my zip’. Or, y'know, I could've been hearing things.”

“No, you just misunderstood.” Jinyoung piped up, “I was thinking about Youngjae undoing your zip. And, I mean, I can't say I hate the image.”

Jaebeom laughed and lowered his hands a little to peek through his fingers at the Prince of Darkness, “You need to control your voyeuristic fantasies, Prince.”

“You have no right to shame me for my kinks, Mr. ‘excessive pain and humiliation turns me on’.”

“Oh my God…” Mark cringed, “Will you two shut up? Please? I don't need to know this, ew…” he turned to look at his lover, “How the hell do you know that anyway?”

Jinyoung shrugged, “We spent a lot of time talking today.”

“And that was your subject of choice?”

The prince buried his nose in the junction of Mark's neck, chuckling, “I dunno. It just came up.”

“Right. Sure…” The light elemental took a deep breath, lifting a hand to tangle his fingers in Jinyoung's hair. Silence lingered as he played with the silky stands, tugging gently at random intervals, “You don’t even know my kinks yet.”

“You like getting your hair pulled.” Jinyoung replied immediately, “I noticed that.”

Mark paused in thought, taking notice of how he was currently subconsciously pulling his lover’s hair, “Actually yeah, I never thought about that.”

“You should grow your hair out. It’ll look good on you.” The prince suggested, “You’ll get your hair pulled and it’ll give me something to hold on to when--“

“Ok, that's my cue.” Jaebeom sat up, stretching. He stood up and turned to the pair, locking eyes with Mark, “I'm gonna leave.”

Jinyoung lifted his head just in time to see Mark's expression darken. The light elemental's gaze fell to the floor, “Yeah… Ok…”

Jaebeom nodded then flashed Jinyoung a soft smile before turning on his heels and walking down the stone stairs.

The sudden shift in atmosphere made Jinyoung anxious. The tension and air of sadness was so palpable and the prince didn't understand what just happened between the two brothers that caused it.

“Hey… what's wrong?” he asked quietly, rubbing Mark's shoulders soothingly.

His other half sighed and lay back, coaxing Jinyoung down with him until they were mirroring each other on the makeshift bed together, face to face, much like the first night they’d spent together. He lifted his hand up to the prince's face, letting his fingertips dance gently over his skin.

“Mark…” Jinyoung started, worry lacing his voice.

“Listen…” the other man started, “I want you to remember… no matter what happens, remember that I… I love you.”

“What's wrong? What happened?”

“Just… trust me, ok?” Mark pleaded, leaning in to speak against his lover's lips, “Please just… stay with me…”

Jinyoung gulped, anxiety skyrocketing at the complete change in Mark's usually laid back persona, “Hey… I do trust you. Hell, I'm pretty sure I'm genetically programmed to love you, right? Whatever you're worried about, it'll be ok. I'm here no matter what.”

The light elemental pressed a feather light kiss on the prince’s lips before looking into his deep, black eyes and squeaking out a soft “I love you.”

“I love you too.” The other man replied, equally as soft, realizing that he'd never said that so straightforwardly before, “Nothing will change that.”

Mark smiled and wrapped his arms around Jinyoung's waist,

“I'm gonna hold you to that.”

 

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	7. Chapter VII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Violence and character death.

“Jinyoung…”

“Hey…”

“Wake up, Love…”

Jinyoung's eyes fluttered open, blinking a few times before his vision cleared and landed on the man lying next to him, his bright eyes sparkling in the darkness and a sweet smile playing across his lips.

“Love…” Mark started quietly. He turned his head to the side, “Look.”

Confused and disoriented from being woken up at what seemed like the middle of the night, Jinyoung slowly turned to look in the same direction. It took a moment, looking out the window, to realize just what he was looking at.

And all at once, he felt his heart drop and his whole body go into panic mode.

Fire.

The palace was on fire.

He ripped the covers off and bolted to the window, taking in the sight with wide, horrified eyes. The entire palace was engulfed in high reaching flames and, now that he was more awake, Jinyoung could hear the horrified screams in the distance along with the panicked shouting of the townspeople in the nearby vicinity.

Heart feeling like it was beating at a million miles per hour, he spun around, glancing briefly at the nonchalant man lazily reclining on the bed like everything was A-ok before he moved from the window and sprinted down the stairs.

Nothing else mattered as he ran as fast as he could toward the only home he'd known his whole life, not the people he was pushing past, not the prospect of getting recognized, not his bare feet, painful from bearing down on the stone roads. Not Mark. Nothing aside from what was potentially happening at the palace. To the people he loved.

If it was just a random fire, Yugyeom would have put it out before it got to this point. And even if it did get out of hand, his power was more than enough to extinguish the flames.

But no. This wasn't just any fire. This was Jaebeom. This was him ‘changing’ the way they lived and making a better life for the less fortunate by getting rid of the court. And it seemed that he didn't care who else got caught in the crossfire.

It all suddenly made sense. Mark didn't mislead Jackson just so that he wouldn't find Jinyoung, he did it so that the palace's defenses would be substantially lowered. Add to that Youngjae's absence and the two youngest princes were screwed. The court wouldn't be of any help against an elemental, BamBam's power would most likely only be used for defense and, although Yugyeom was powerful, he was still growing into that power and hadn't yet learned how to fully harness it.

It was all a cunning plan. Everything. Everything was set up to eradicate the palace and the entire elemental royalty regime. And Jinyoung wasn't sure if they planned to let _anyone_ live. Himself included.

A crowd of people had gathered in front of the wide open, unguarded palace gates, staring at the fire like it was some sort of spectacle. Jinyoung pushed through the crowd, slowly realizing that he had no idea what he would do once he got there. He just had to get to the two princes before it was too late.

Running around to the courtyard in the back, he turned a corner just in time to see Yugyeom drop to his knees, clearly exhausted. Jinyoung ignored his painful legs screaming at him not to move anymore and made one last sprint for the Water Prince, dropping down next to him.

“Yugyeom, hey…” He called quietly over the sound of the roaring flames, gently patting the younger's face. His eyes were unfocused and glazed over, on the verge of unconsciousness, “Hey… Gyeom… stay with me.”

Yugyeom glanced tiredly at the man he had considered a brother his entire life. He managed a small smile before his eyes rolled up into his head and he fell forward, completely limp in Jinyoung's arms.

“Yugyeom! Wake up!” He called desperately, shaking him more harshly, “Yugyeo--”

“You can't just stay in the open like this!” BamBam's voice cut him off and Jinyoung looked up to see the earth elemental rushing toward them, “You’re gonna get you both killed.”

Looking past the Earth Prince, Jinyoung caught a glimpse of a familiar silhouette and glowing, fiery red eyes through the smoke before his vision was obscured by a wall of dirt, stone and fauna as BamBam erected a protective dome around the three of them.

The younger man panted as he sat on the ground ungracefully, clearly not faring much better than his unconscious friend. He suddenly turned a glare on the Prince of Darkness and Jinyoung recoiled at the sheer amount of hatred shining in his eyes.

“You… This is... your fault.” BamBam gasped out between wheezes, “Because… you just _couldn't_ be happy… with your perfect life.”

“I… I didn't mean for this to happen…” Jinyoung squeaked out weakly, “I didn't know what… I… I'm sorry…”

BamBam closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath. It felt like an eternity before he finally opened them again and Jinyoung noticed the fear and sadness in his eyes that had replaced his previous anger.

“You know…” The younger started, “Yugyeom was so convinced that you hadn't turned on us. He kept saying that you would never do that. You would never leave us without a good reason.” he dug in his pocket and pulled out a familiar, crudely made envelope, tossing it onto the floor as he crossed his legs. “I read your letter. And I guess it makes sense. But it still seems to me like you acted incredibly recklessly. Allowing them to incapacitate Jackson Hyung was so careless.”

Jinyoung felt smaller than he ever had his entire life. It wasn't just the fact that it was BamBam - notoriously childish BamBam - that was scolding him like he was a toddler, it was the realization that the Earth Prince was right; this _was_ his fault. He could have prevented all of this if he had just stayed in the palace, followed the courts orders, married Jackson and continued rebuilding the elemental race. Sure, he could make excuses for himself - he and Mark were automatically drawn to each other by forces more powerful than simple attraction, he couldn't help that - but there was so much that he _could_ control. Mark didn't hold him at knife point and force him to leave his life behind, to follow him, to be with him, to ignore everyone else who meant something to him, as long as Mark was happy.

Jinyoung made that choice of his own free will and that was a hard pill to swallow.

“Our only hope…” BamBam continued weakly, “is Jackson Hyung showing up right about… now.” He put two fingers on each side of his head as if harnessing some sort of psychic mind powers and then chuckled bitterly and let his arms fall back to his sides when nothing happened, “Oh well…”

The Prince of Darkness felt his heart sink at how defeated the younger man seemed. He turned his gaze to the young prince in his arms and felt even worse. There really was nothing they could do at this point. If Jackson had been around, he and Yugyeom together definitely could have overpowered Jaebeom. But Jackson wasn't there.

And, again, that was thanks to Jinyoung.

A harsh tremor vibrated on one spot of the earth dome and both princes turned to look in that direction, fear intensifying immeasurably. Another tremor, like somebody was pounding on the other side. Another. And another. And another. Rocks and bits of dirt fell as the dome started giving way and, with one more hit, a hole was created. With a bit more tinkering, the opening grew wider until there was a crude, makeshift window.

Jinyoung didn't think his heart could break any more than it already had, but seeing Mark peek through the hole and smile sickeningly sweetly at him destroyed every last bit of himself.

“Love,” the light elemental started gently and Jinyoung felt his stomach turn at the affectionate nickname, “Please come with me.”

The Prince of Darkness gulped as his mind raced, trying to process how to respond to this man who he had been so deeply in love with only a few hours earlier.

“No…” was the most coherent answer Jinyoung could give in that moment.

Mark tilted his head, eyes softening, “Jinyoung… play with me.” he beckoned as something flashed in his eyes, “Or I'll have no choice but to… _play_ with your friends.”

“Don't you dare.” The prince replied shakily, on the brink of bursting into tears, “If you touch them I swear I'll fucking kill you.”

“Hmm… is that possible?” The other man wondered out loud, leaning on his elbows, “I think we'll be pretty evenly matched, don't you? Have we ever done that? Used our powers at the same time?” He chuckled and shrugged, “Oh, of course we did. The other night… right before we made love.”

Jinyoung felt like he was about throw up.

“Light and darkness compliment each other. So what do you think will happen if they clash? If _we_ clash?” Mark continued, eyes locked intensely with his other half. A small smile crossed his lips, “Shall we try, Love?”

“You're insane…” the Prince of Darkness breathed out.

“I might be.” The other man replied, letting his eyes flutter closed as a strange kind of euphoria washed over him, “But admit it… the thought excites you, doesn't it? You feel it in your fingertips, that urge to push against me. To mix light and darkness together and marvel at what comes from it.”

He hated that Mark could read him like a book.

The light elemental's smile fell and he opened his eyes to look at the other man once more, unusually serious, “Jinyoung. I'm really sorry things had to go this way. I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything.”

“You're not sorry about anything…” Jinyoung hissed.

“I am. I'm sorry I hurt you.” The other man insisted, “Everything I said to you, everything I felt for you, that was all real. I love you.” he stood straight and took a step back as his lips pulled into an almost sinister smile, “That being said…”

Before Jinyoung could fathom what was happening, all he felt was intense heat and, a beat too late, he realized that the fauna protecting them had been slowly drying out and fire had started spreading rapidly through the entire dome.

Panic reaching a new height, the Prince of Darkness shifted his position to hold Yugyeom's unconscious body more securely before attempting to stand up, crumpling back down as pain shot through his legs, made almost unbearable by the extra weight.

“BamBam, help me get him out of here.” he called to the other man.

The Earth Prince shakily got to his feet, coughing a little from the smoke. He took a step forward only to recoil violently and frantically pull up a few spiked pillars from the ground, as if he were attacking someone that wasn’t there. His eyes darted around the dome, clearly fearful of something.

“BamBam!” Jinyoung repeated more desperately, “What are you doing?!”

The younger opened his mouth to say something, only to immediately turn and put every last bit of power he had left into attacking the dome itself, creating a large opening in the wall. Right next to Mark.

Jinyoung didn’t miss the serene smile that crossed the light elemental’s face as BamBam stumbled forward, looking confused and disoriented before he fell to the ground, near unconsciousness.

Realizing that things were turning dire very quickly, Jinyoung's panic made him hyperventilate, causing the thick smoke to fill his lungs rapidly. He coughed, struggling to catch his breath. The rational side of his mind knew that he had to get out of there or he would die of asphyxiation, but every fibre of his being was telling him that he had to get the two younger princes out first.

He owed them that much.

This was his fault…

“Jinyoung.” Mark called from outside the dome, “Get out. Now.”

“Help me get them to safety!” Jinyoung shouted back, eyes burning and tearing up from the smoke.

“No.”

“Goddammit, Mark, please!”

With a frustrated huff, Mark carefully stepped into the dome and grabbed the Prince of Darkness’ arm, yanking him away from Yugyeom “Jinyoung.”

“Mark… please…”

Pain flashed briefly in the light elemental's eyes at the helpless desperation of his other half. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when a stream of fire burst through the window, missing the lovers by an inch and setting BamBam's clothes alight, causing both him and Jinyoung to scream.

Mark grabbed Jinyoung around his waist just before the Prince of Darkness could make the impulsive move to reach out for his younger friend. He forcefully dragged a failing, screaming, wheezing, somewhat faint Jinyoung to the opening in the dome, carefully kicking away some flaming debris and pulling him out. They managed to stumble a good distance away from the dome before Jinyoung's body gave out and he fell to the ground, pulling Mark down with him.

Getting to his knees, the light elemental lifted Jinyoung to do the same, gasping in shock as the other man clutched onto Mark's shoulders, still wheezing and hyperventilating.

Mark cupped his face with his hands and coaxed the prince to look at him, “Breathe, Love.” He demonstrated taking long, deep breaths and exhaling and the Prince of Darkness did his best to imitate him, forgetting momentarily about his mixed feelings for the man due to his survival instinct kicking in. All that mattered at that point was getting oxygen into his lungs.

Gradually, his breathing evened out and Mark dropped one of his hands to gently rub Jinyoung's upper back, “Breathe.”

No longer under the threat of asphyxiation, Jinyoung plunged straight back into the emotional pain of what just happened. He fell forward slowly, too broken to fight against his instinct to bury his face in Mark's shoulder for comfort. In response, the light elemental wrapped his arms around him, pressing soft kisses into his black hair.

It was a strange feeling. Being in Mark's arms was always so calming, even when Jinyoung had every reason to push him away and never talk to him again.

The serenity was short lived, however, as a loud explosion made both men jump in shock. Jinyoung spun around to look at the dome behind him, only to see fiery remnants of earth falling to the ground where the dome stood.

That was it. They were gone. He killed them. Both of them.

Jinyoung felt like he'd gone numb. Like all the sound had been muted and the color had drained away and all he could see was the orange flames. He didn't know how long he sat there on the floor, staring at nothing with Mark still holding him close, but he had lost every ounce of will to do _anything_.

He turned his head, spotting Jaebeom standing next to them, blowing gently on his palm and, all at once, his senses came rushing back to him and he had the overwhelming urge to do just one thing…

Getting to his feet, with Mark protesting, Jinyoung walked slowly towards Jaebeom. He paused as he reached him, locking eyes with the fire elemental who smiled infuriatingly calmly at him. Before he could really think about it, Jinyoung reeled his arm back and punched Jaebeom straight in the face, catching him completely off guard as he stumbled backwards.

“Wow…” the fire elemental chuckled, gently tapping his lip to see if it was bleeding, “I guess I deserved that, huh?”

“You used me... You both did…” Jinyoung managed to squeak out, “You lied to me… about everything…”

“Ok, that's not true.” Jaebeom argued, lifting a finger, “I mean, we used you, sure. You helped us get into the exact position we needed to be. But neither of us have ever lied to you. Everything I told you about the princess, about my family, about the elementals; that was all true. I even told you straight up that Mark was going to stall Icey. I told you that he wasn't going to hurt him and he didn't.” He leaned in closer to the other man, voice dropping low “I've never lied to you, Prince. You knew everything that was going on and you _chose_ to stay with us.”

“Shut up!” Jinyoung shouted, pressing his palms over his eyes, “Shut up! Shut the fuck up!”

Jaebeom sighed, “You hated this elemental royalty thing, you told me that yourself. And now you're throwing a fit because we actually have the guts to _do_ something about it?” With a click of his tongue, he walked past the other man, bumping their shoulders in the process, “You're a coward, Prince. You're spoiled and want everything your way without having to make any sacrifices or doing any work.” He paused, back to back with the Prince of Darkness, “So you stay here and sulk. The rest of us will work our way to a conclusion.”

As if on cue, a cold chill travelled through the previously warm air. Jaebeom watched, with heightening excitement, as ice slowly crept up the burning palace walls and extended out to the courtyard, getting rid of every trace of fire until the entire palace was encased in solid ice.

Jinyoung looked around wildly, wide eyes searching hopefully for the one person he needed right now. He glanced passed Jaebeom and felt the first glimmer of hope well up inside him at the sight of the Ice Prince taking slow, calculated steps toward the trio.

“Jackson…” the Prince of Darkness breathed out, hesitating for a second before rushing to his fiancé, ignoring his stinging feet because Jackson was there and he would make everything ok somehow and there would be nothing to worry about and--

He ran head-first into what felt like a solid wall, recoiled from the impact and stumbled backwards into another wall. Pain spread through his skull as he gripped his head, squeezing his eyes shut for a few seconds to steady himself before opening them and taking in his surroundings.

He was trapped. There was a large box of thick, almost glass-like clear ice encasing him on all sides.

Vision clearing from the probable concussion, he looked out for some sort of explanation, his confused mind not putting it together instantly.

His eyes finally landed on Jackson.

And the ice-cold glare he received, along with the sight of him slipping the very easily recognizable black ring off his finger and letting it fall to the ground, was enough to shatter what was left of his already broken heart.

It made sense that Jackson would hate him. Jinyoung had turned on him, cheated on him. He was told straight up about Mark leaving Jackson in the middle of nowhere and he did nothing. He felt no urgency to help him.

No.

His new life was more important than his best friend. His fiancé. The man he had loved for years.

With a deep breath, Jackson tore his gaze away from the Prince of Darkness to focus on the intimidating man directly opposite him. Jaebeom's expression was a complete contrast to his opposing elemental’s, eyes wider than usual and an almost maniacal grin on his face.

The excitement was electric. This is what he'd wanted for the longest time; a one on one fight with the man who, according to Jaebeom's instinct, shouldn't exist.

He was more than happy to make that happen.

“So…” the fire elemental started, crossing his arms, “We meet again.”

“I knew I should have killed you that night.” Jackson replied, voice dripping with venom.

Movement behind the prince caught Jaebeom's eye and he glanced past him, catching a brief glimpse of the healer before being forced to jump out of the way as a glacier shot out of the ground toward him.

Jaebeom whistled, “Wow. I didn't realize you play dirty.” He stretched, “I guess it's time I do too then.”

Jackson tilted his head to the side as stream of fire blasted past him from behind, singeing the tips of his hair, “I'm not here to play games. So are you ready to get serious or should I just kill you where you stand?”

“Let me savour this moment, Icey, I've been dreaming about this for years.” He smirked, “But you're right. I don't think dragging out the foreplay is necessary.”

He took a step forward. Then sprinted at full speed toward the other man, sparks pouring from his body as he picked up speed. Bracing himself, Jackson dug his heels into the dirt, lifted his arms and covered them in ice just in time to block the impact from Jaebeom's fiery fist.

As soon as the ice melted, Jackson grabbed the other man's wrist and, almost instantly, Jaebeom lifted a leg and rammed his knee into his jaw, the Ice Prince's teeth mashing painfully together as he stumbled backwards.

Jaebeom tsk'ed, placing his hand over where Jackson had held his wrist, the deep red frostbitten skin creating an unfamiliar burning sensation on his hot skin. The more they toyed with each other like this, the more superficial injuries would pile up until one of them gave out and Jaebeom was not willing to win like that.

He was going take him out with a bang.

Taking a step back, he grinned as he twirled his finger round and round, rings of fire circling around the prince, surrounding him in a tornado of flames. He felt the other man using his ice to try and put out the fire, as he assumed he would, and just doubled down on the intensity.

He suddenly gasped and hopped backwards, just a second too late to avoid the barrage of frozen daggers speeding towards him. He hissed as they pierced through his skin, most of them in his right arm and one managing to lodge itself in the side of his neck. The pain was more intense than anything he’d experienced before; stab wounds mixed with frostbite hurt like hell but Jaebeom didn't have time to worry about that because he knew that Jackson would most likely attack again while he was off guard.

Quickly melting the bits of ice in his body, he placed a hand over the wound in his neck, gritted his teeth and burned the hole in a desperate attempt at cauterization to stop the bleeding.

Spinning around, he just barely managed to lift his blood drenched arm to block the kick aimed at his head.

When had the prince gotten behind him?

Jackson dropped down and covered his hand in a sharp glacier to create a mock sword, lunging at the other man and managing to just nick him on his side before his weapon was swiftly melted.

The fire elemental stepped back, throwing a streak of flames at his opponent that the other man neutralised with little effort. Clenching his fists, he repeated the action several more times, all to no avail and Jaebeom realized, with a twinge of terror, that he was starting to breathe heavier, his limbs were getting weaker and, worst of all, his power was currently no where near the same level as Jackson's. Confused, but determined, he put everything he could muster into his attacks, still having no effect on the man that was now slowly advancing on him.

Suddenly everything went dark. 

It took a second for him to realize that somebody’s hands were over his eyes and he panicked, flailing and elbowing the person behind him hard, turning as they let go and fell. He gasped at the sight of Mark on the floor, clutching his side where he had been hit.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He asked incredulously before turning back to make sure the Ice Prince wasn't about to stab him, only to have his jaw drop in realization.

Jackson was moving as if he were still attacking Jaebeom, throwing ice in the opposite direction of where the two brothers were situated.

“What is he..?” the fire elemental questioned in confusion.

“I changed the composition of the light around him to make it seem like you’re still in front of him. Like a mirror.” Mark explained through the pain, “He’s confused, but he’s probably gonna figure it out soon, so we need to come up with a better plan of action quick.”

“I don't need your help, Mark, stay out of it.”

“You do need my help.” The light elemental argued, “You used up too much of your power toying with those kids. He's going to kill you.”

Jaebeom held his hand out and helped the other man to his feet, “Fine. So be it.”

“Stop being such a hard-ass!” Mark shouted, “This is about more than just your ego and your need to be superior over him! There's still more that has to be done, you know that!”

“And _you_ know that I was born with an innate need to kill him.” The fire elemental shot back.

“Yes. I do know that.” The other man responded, glancing at the Ice Prince who had since stopped attacking and had his eyes closed, trying to listen for his enemy instead, “And you will. I'm just saying we'll have a much better chance if I hel--”

“No!” Jaebeom interrupted, shoving him, “We're gonna do this one on one and if you don’t drop the light bending or if you interrupt me again, I will send your fucked up boyfriend to a fiery grave, I swear.”

Spinning on his heels and leaving a flabbergasted Mark behind him, he stomped up to Jackson with renewed enthusiasm and desire to wipe out every last trace of him. He threw a punch while the prince still looked shaky.

... And suddenly stopped, stock still just before it connected. 

In a delayed reaction, excruciating pain slowly traveled up his arm and he pulled back to assess what had happened. Blood poured down his arm as he realized that the other man had cut him down his arm, along his main artery.

Cauterizing probably wouldn't be effective for long, but Jaebeom tried it anyway, half sure that doing that would lead to some sort of internal bleeding. He had to finish this quick, before he allowed Jackson to get in another hit on him.

Instinct kicking in, as if he could _feel_ Jackson’s next move, he spun around, quickly using his power to melt the sharp spear of ice hurling toward Mark just inches away from his face. In the back of his mind, he knew that the Ice Prince going after Mark was only a distraction and braced himself for some sort of impact.

Flinching at what felt like three giant claws slicing open his back, he tried his best to ignore the searing pain made a split second decision to compact all his remaining power into something resembling a bomb and throw it toward Jackson just before it burst, resulting in an large explosion that hit, not only the prince, but Jaebeom and Mark too, sending all three in different directions.

Somehow managing to stay on his feet, Jaebeom stumbled on his weak legs, trying his hardest not to lose his balance. He felt his energy start to wither and his body slowly start to give out until sturdy hands grabbed him and pulled him into an awkward hug.

His confused mind automatically thought it was the Prince of Darkness before quickly noticing the calming aura that could have only been from one specific person.

Panting, he looked up at his savior and flashed him a weak, sweet smile, “Hi…”

Youngjae gulped, pursing his lips together before exhaling and dropping his head forward to lean their foreheads against each other. Instantly, the fire elemental felt the pain in his body ease up, causing him to sigh in relief as his eyes fluttered closed, his hands finding purchase on the healer’s hips. He knew there was a downside to being healed by the prince, he would be physically exhausted, but that was ok as long as his elemental power was back at a hundred percent. Besides, maybe it was because of his healing aura, but just being in the other man's arms like this was a welcome break in the fight with the Ice Prince.

He felt a sharp sting in his abdomen that disappeared almost instantly and he opened his eyes to see what had just happened.

Terror and panic washed over him as he took in the sight of a line of blood dripping out of the corner of Youngjae's mouth. The healer’s expression remained mostly calm, save for a slight frown, but Jaebeom knew something was very wrong. He pulled back to run his eyes over the other man's form, feeling his breath get stuck in his throat as his gaze landed on the thick, blood stained spike of ice lodged completely through the healer’s middle. The end of the spike was missing and Jaebeom could only assume that it was meant to kill both of them and probably would have if Youngjae was not in the middle of healing him.

Acting on his first instinct, he melted the ice inside the other man and attempted to burn the wound like he'd been doing to himself, to no avail. The affected area was too big and, before long, Youngjae lost any energy he had left in his body and collapsed onto the fire elemental.

Pressing his hand over the wound on the healer’s back, Jaebeom felt his heart drop at the feeling of the warm blood rapidly soaking his palm.

The muffled sound of someone screaming Youngjae's name caught Jaebeom's attention and he glanced to the side, eyes landing on the box of ice housing the clearly distraught Prince of Darkness.

Turning his attention back to the lifeless man in his arms he pulled him closer to hug him, whispering a soft “I'm sorry…” into his unhearing ear before gently laying him down on the ground.

He stood, automatically seeking out the Ice Prince, filled with a new, deeper hatred than he thought was possible. They locked eyes as Jaebeom took a few steps forward then paused. In a swift movement he stretched out a hand and the ice prison was instantly melted, retaining its shape for a second before it all fell in a large splash of water.

Jinyoung immediately rushed toward him, dropping to his knees next to Youngjae and lifting him a little to cradle his head.

“Get a good distance away from here, Prince.” Jaebeom ordered, exhaustion from being healed evident on his face, “It's time we get serious.”

The Prince of Darkness nodded, managing to push past the pain in his legs and lift the smaller man awkwardly, hobbling his way towards the charred palace, the ice having since been melted. Jackson's eyes never left Jinyoung as he ran, staring intently as he fought with himself internally over his reluctance to attack his former lover. Steeling his resolve to rid himself of any and all traitors, he clenched his fist and…

Suddenly Jaebeom was right in front of his face, causing the Ice Prince to stumble back in shock.

“Don't you dare.” The fire elemental warned.

His hand darted out and grabbed Jackson's throat squeezing and burning him at the same time. In retaliation, the Ice Prince latched both hands onto Jaebeom's forearm, managing to pull him away just enough to breathe sufficiently, skin still burning under the other man's fingers.

Ice traveled slowly up Jaebeom's arm, freezing every blood vessel in the process as Jackson's skin boiled from the inside out. Neither were willing to back down, intensifying their powers at similar rates, both trying to one-up the other.

From Jinyoung's vantage point against the wall of the palace, it almost looked like nothing was happening aside from the two elemental's holding on to each other, but the glaciers slowing building up at Jaebeom's feet and the flames starting to circle around Jackson's body gave away the intensity of what was actually going on. It was a strange sight. If he didn't know any better, he'd think their elements had switched.

The fire and ice became more intense around the two men, both elements meeting but staying in their original form as they almost completely overwhelmed each other.

Jaebeom chuckled, cold water vapour leaving his lips as he shivered, “Y-you're gonna die. I'm gonna… burn you up… from the inside.”

“Not if I kill you first.” The prince panted out, breathing heavily with sweat drenching his entire body.

Jaebeom grinned and suddenly a tornado of flames and frost burst forth from the two men, obstructing Jinyoung's view of them as it just got bigger and bigger. The Prince of Darkness held Youngjae closer, doing his best to shield him from the effects of the two elemental's fight.

It was weirdly beautiful. The bright red and orange glow being complimented by a flurry of little flakes of ice that resembled glitter in the soft light of dawn. That beauty, however, was accompanied by power more incredible than anything Jinyoung had ever felt.

It was terrifying.

It was terrifying, not because the Prince of Darkness was worried about being caught in the crossfire, but because there was no possible way that both men would come out of that alive.

The twister grew larger and larger until Jinyoung could feel the weird, unnatural hot-cold mix on his skin. If they continued on like this, they had the potential to wipe out everything. It crossed Jinyoung's mind that maybe that's what Jaebeom wanted all along. Maybe he really was hoping to get rid of any trace of the elementals for good and let the people start anew.

Then...

All at once, everything stopped.

It was as if all the raw elemental power was sucked back into the point of origin like it never happened. The two elementals responsible stood in the same position they were in when it started; Jaebeom squeezing Jackson's throat and both of Jackson's hands gripping Jaebeom's arm, eyes locked intensely in the most equally matched power battle. They stood stock still. As if they were on pause. Jaebeom's skin was a sickly white, almost grey while Jackson's was unnaturally red.

Silence reigned for a few seconds as Jinyoung watched them intently, hoping to see any sort of movement. And then he noticed it; one lone bead of sweat traveled down one of Jackson's arms, hanging dangerously off the tip of his elbow.

Then it fell.

And as soon as it touched the ground, a massive fire-ice explosion erupted, shaking the ground with the sheer force of it. Bits of earth lifted around the duo, creating a large crater little by little as the dirt raised higher and higher.

And just as quickly as it started, everything fell back to the ground as the aftermath of the explosion faded, leaving behind a beautiful shower of sparks and snow as a calm settled over the palace courtyard.

Jinyoung opened his eyes, moving from where he'd been shielding Youngjae's body with his own to assess the situation. He thought for sure that the explosion would hit them, but he had no injuries aside from the ones he had sustained earlier. The sudden silence was deafening. Even the bystanders outside the gates had gone silent and Jinyoung had the fleeting thought that maybe the blast had somehow bypassed him and reached those people instead.

He looked around him, noticing how the crater ended only a few inches from his feet. It might have been dumb luck, but Jinyoung knew better. He knew, despite the intensity and the anger and hatred, Jackson tried his hardest to keep the fight in one spot, lest he hurt any of the nearby civilians. Jaebeom probably just matched him in that, not really caring about the ‘why’ in those moments.

Jinyoung's eyes widened as he looked at the middle of the crater.

A single untouched platform stood dead center among the upturned earth. And on it stood two figures, hands still locked on each other. Unmoving.

Jinyoung tried to look closer. They looked like statues. If he hadn't seen the past half hour, he would have thought they were sculptures.

Heart pounding, the Prince of Darkness gently sat Youngjae up against the palace wall and stood, turning and walking slowly through the crater. The sharp rocks hurt, but none of that pain mattered when he spotted a small, sparkling object on the ground.

He knew what it was instantly but hesitated to pick it up. Did he really deserve to wear it? After everything he'd done?

With a deep breath and his shattered heart breaking more, if that were even possible, he left the ring where it was and continued forward. Eventually, he reached the makeshift pedestal and used every bit of energy he could muster to climb up.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting. Another blast? Them noticing him and moving away from each other somehow? But no.

They were… stuck.

Frozen in time.

They had turned each other into sculptures. Like some sort of petrification. Both were slightly different shades, Jaebeom being a light blueish grey as opposed to Jackson's darker ash colour.

Jinyoung walked up close, scared to touch them incase they were more fragile than they seemed. Cautiously, he reached out and grabbed Jaebeom's wrist, thinking that, if they were just going to crumble, he wanted to remove the fire elemental's hand from Jackson's throat first. It didn't budge. It felt like touching a solid, heavy stone statue and Jinyoung reeled his hand back immediately, as if he'd been burned. Gingerly reaching forward again, he let his fingertips brush over the back of one of Jackson’s hands.

They really were solid. As if they were carved out of a sturdy stone slab.

Despite the confusion, the Prince of Darkness was in awe. It was poetic in a way. All of that intense hatred and violence culminated in the two being locked together for eternity. Jinyoung didn't understand it, but maybe this was also destiny. Maybe this was the universe's fucked up way of taking two things that were not meant to be together and making them one.

He glanced at the Ice Prince's face and any admiration for the situation was suddenly replaced with the crushing realization that Jackson was gone. His best friend. His future husband.

Gone.

As his anxiety lowered, the seriousness of the situation kicked in and he felt his eyes finally start to well up. But he wasn't going to cry. He didn't deserve to.

His gaze switched to Jaebeom, feeling more of a stab in his heart than he'd wanted to. As much as he wanted to hate Jaebeom for everything he’d done, there was still a twinge of sadness at losing the man he'd become such good friends with.

A part of him wanted to just sit at their feet and wait until somebody found them, unsure of how else to deal with this situation and just wanting to go to sleep and never wake up. He would have, but movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and caused a shiver to run through his body.

Moving on instinct, he hopped down from the pedestal and rushed across the crater in the opposite direction of where he came from.

If there was one person he wished he'd never met...

Mark sat on the dirt with his head in his hands, trembling slightly. He hadn't been hit with the blast either and Jinyoung wasn't sure if he was happy about that or not.

The prince walked up to him, grabbed his arm and forcefully yanked him up onto his feet. Without a second’s hesitation, his fist connected with the light elemental's jaw, sending him collapsing back down ungracefully. Mark didn't make any move to get up and just lay on the floor, hands over his eyes as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Unsatisfied with just one punch, Jinyoung got down on the ground, straddling the other man as he lifted him a little by the collar of his shirt.

“You! None of this would have happened if it weren't for you! If you had just not approached me that day in the market! I was an idiot for trusting you.” He hissed.

“Jinyoung…” Mark whimpered, looking completely devastated. Jinyoung had the brief realization that Mark had just lost the only family he had left. But that was Jaebeom's own fault and the Prince of Darkness couldn't bring himself to feel any empathy for either brother.

He let go of Mark's collar, letting the light elemental's head hit the ground painfully. After a moment of hesitation, he slowly wrapped both hands around the other man's throat, feeling a tear roll down his cheek. Mark didn't react. He didn't struggle, didn't fight to be able to breathe. He had just given up and was seemingly willing to accept his fate.

He finally opened his mouth, locking eyes with the prince, “Jinyoung…” he gasped, voice at a whisper due to the lack of air, “I love you…”

“I fucking hate you…” Jinyoung whispered back as a couple of warm tears fell from his eyes and onto Mark's cheeks.

Jinyoung's emotions had been a rollercoaster ride the entire night, but nothing felt nearly as confusing as honestly hating and wanting to kill the person he was also so, _so_ deeply in love with. His sobbing intensified as his grip gradually loosened until he was barely even touching the light elemental.

Sitting back, he let his hands rest on Mark's torso, trying to calm his breathing and stop his crying. Mark didn't move, he just waited in that position, feeling a fucked up sort of comfort with Jinyoung touching him.

“Go…” the Prince of Darkness finally spoke weakly once he had calmed down enough, “Go back to the town and don't ever come back... I never wanna see you again…”

Mark looked like he wanted to say something but held his tongue and just nodded instead, eyes raking over Jinyoung's form, taking in as much as he could in the event that this really would be the last time he saw the beautiful prince.

Jinyoung clenched his fists, balling Mark's shirt in his hands before he abruptly let go and stood up shakily. His eyes lingered on the other man a beat longer than they should have. Spinning on his heels before he broke down again, he walked back through the crater, towards the palace.

It was hard not to stare at the petrified elementals in the centre, but he managed to focus his gaze on the little black and blue ring on the ground, having made a decision. He picked it up as soon as he reached it, slipping it onto his finger immediately.

He was not going to just curl into a ball and give up. He started this whole mess and he was going to make things right as best he could. He owed it to the four princes who paid for _his_ transgressions.

Arriving back at the palace wall, he glanced over at the hill of charred earth in the distance, feeling guilt rush throughout his whole body. Yugyeom and BamBam… they were innocent in all this. They only tried their best to fix Jinyoung's mistakes. And what BamBam said about Yugyeom never losing faith in Jinyoung spoke volumes about how deeply he cared about the people he loved. BamBam too. He had shown a great deal of care and maturity by using every last bit of his power to try and save, not himself, but the other two princes. They were both amazing people.

It never should have ended this way for them.

Jinyoung kneeled down in front of Youngjae, taking in a shaky breath as he reached out and gently cupped his cheek. The Prince of Darkness wasn't a hundred percent sure where Youngjae stood in this whole thing. He was obviously loyal to the court, but he had healed Jaebeom without a second's hesitation back there, even giving his life to make sure the fire elemental was ok. It didn't make the most sense, but Jinyoung chalked it up to the fact that Youngjae's instinct was to help everybody, no matter who they were. One of the many amazing traits the healer possessed.

He leaned forward and placed a light, feather-soft kiss on the younger's forehead.

Trembling harder now and with more tears threatening to spill out, he moved to sit next to Youngjae with his back leaning against the wall.

He wasn't sure when he had started staring at the rising sun, slowly illuminating the courtyard in a depressing reminder that life goes on, even after the worst tragedies. He had the overwhelming urge to see if he could use his darkness to block out the entire sun until he felt at least a little better, but he thought, with a bitter chuckle, that he'd probably been selfish enough already.

The sound of rushing footsteps made its way to his ears and he slowly turned his head to side to see an army of royal guards running up to him.

A sad, defeated smile spread across his lips.

 

 

 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're almost done! We've just got the epilogue to go!  
> I hope you guys enjoyed the fic. Thank you for reading <3


	8. Epilogue

Jinyoung stared dreamily at the dark, early morning sky. It was too early for even a sliver of the sun to be seen. Instead, the indigo sky was densely decorated with sparkling stars and the dull outline of the new moon.

He always did like the darkness.

He was exhausted, having only gotten around an hour of sleep, but he was used to it. He did this often enough, after all.

The past year and four months was difficult, to say the least. After everything he'd done, he expected to be crucified by the court once they got their hands on him, but that didn't happen. Since nobody knew about Mark’s existence and even Jinyoung himself had no information on Yugyeom's brother, he was the only surviving elemental, as far as anybody knew. And being the lone surviving elemental, the court saw it fit to make him king.

He had laughed out loud, right in their faces, when they first suggested it. The whole reason he even was the last survivor was because he wanted to get out of the court's rulership. But things were different now. Seeing as how they couldn’t risk losing him, as they essentially had no backup elementals anymore, the court surrendered all major control to Jinyoung. He was king. He had the final say. He was allowed to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, without being watched like he was a child.

Honestly, that kind of freedom scared him at first. History showed that he didn't exactly make the best decisions on his own, but the ring on his finger was a sobering reminder of the wrongs he was trying to make right by being the best king he could possibly be.

Doing things for the sake of the people became the basis for his existence, as ironic as that was.

Once again, life was not fun. Once again, he was not happy. But, for the first time, he had a purpose that was close to his heart. A reason for living.

The statue of the petrified elementals remained in the courtyard, even after the crater was filled. It had been made into a monument of sorts and Jinyoung still shivered whenever he saw it. He felt like it was a little morbid, but the fight between the two changed everything and the decision had been made to preserve them.

It took a little over six months, with a large group of people working, to rebuild the palace. It was a little different from the original building. It was smaller and less fancy due to the fact that Jinyoung's first order as king was to stop wasting money unnecessarily and use it to improve the towns instead. The only architectural request he had for his bedroom was a balcony facing the west because, even though he hadn't been to the town since that fateful night, he still liked to look at it. It was still a huge part of his history.

A couple of months after the palace was rebuilt, Jinyoung got married.

It came out of nowhere and he'd only known the girl for two weeks before they were engaged. The wedding was a month later.

She was the daughter of one of the court officials and the only person of high social standing that was in the same age range as the king. Much like how he was supposed to marry Jackson to boost morale and make people happy, his marriage to this woman was arranged for the same reasons.

He didn't love her. But the world didn't revolve around his feelings.

It was kind of a sad existence, when he thought about it. So, he just chose to never think about it. It worked for the most part, but there were moments like this, watching the stars in the silence of early morning, when he would entertain the idea of a better life.

He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, every fibre of his being telling him to stay where he was. That he belonged there.

In this old, rundown building with the missing roof.

Reluctantly pulling his gaze away from the beautiful sky, he turned to the side, eyes landing on the sleeping man next to him.

Every time they did this, Jinyoung felt equally guilty. But he couldn't stop.

He had managed to stay away from the town for eight months. Then, the day he got married, he and his new wife were paraded around on a float, much to the king's dismay. Still, in his efforts to be a good ruler, he had slapped a smile on his face and waved to all the excited bystanders.

Until he spotted a familiar face in the crowd and he felt like the whole world had come to a halt. It had to have only been a few seconds that they spent staring at each other, but Jinyoung felt like he had just lived those few crazy days from a year ago all over again.

Once the float had passed, he tried his best to go back to smiling and waving, but he couldn't shake that old familiar feeling that had returned with a vengeance, like a punch to his gut. That feeling of a deep, intense need.

Later that night, sometime after midnight when he should have been with his wife, he slipped out of the gate and, absentmindedly, his feet carried him down the long road, through the quiet town and straight to the old building that he had so many memories of. He had paused at the doorway for a moment as a hundred thoughts ran through his head. But then Mark rushed down the stairs, obviously having felt the other's presence, and suddenly none of the rational thoughts in his head were important in the slightest.

He felt guilty. He did. Sleeping with someone else on his own wedding night was lower than even he thought he'd ever stoop.

But then he came back a month later. And then another month later.

And then the queen got pregnant.

And Jinyoung went straight back to Mark. And then again, three weeks later. And then two weeks later. And then a week later. His visits were getting more and more frequent. And as much as the guilt ate away at him afterwards, being with Mark for those few hours every few weeks - whether they were talking, making love or just tangled together in silence - was the highlight of his life at the moment. He was calm whenever they were together. Content. Dare he even say happy.

But it only lasted so long each time and Jinyoung had a life to go back to. Nobody, not even his wife, questioned where he was all those nights beyond a simple ‘were you busy with something last night?’ and every time he would just nod and carry on with his day like nothing happened. He wondered sometimes if he was some sort of sociopathic serial cheater, but he quickly realized that, no, he was just meant for someone very specific. Someone that he would never actually be with – in the fullest sense anyway – but couldn’t let go of either.

Disguised as part of the palace's efforts to build up the town, the king had offered to revamp Mark's home; plaster and paint the walls, put in a door, a ceiling and windows, but Mark refused. There were too many memories in that building for him to just modernize it. Jinyoung understood that, but he convinced him to install a door with a lock at least. After all, he never knew who would want to burgle him. Or who could come barging in when the king was in his bed.

Jinyoung sighed. He knew he had to get out of there and go home before too many people spotted him. Every time he found himself in the roofless building, he considered just never leaving, but Jackson's face would pop into his mind and he remembered that his duty to him and his three other fallen comrades was more important than anything else.

He gently brushed Mark’s hair out of his face, causing him to stir sightly. His bright, sparkling eyes fluttered open as Jinyoung let his hand rest on the other man's cheek.

The king still found him beautiful. Even after everything they'd been through, he was still perfection in Jinyoung's eyes.

Mark made a soft, tired noise in the back of his throat and nuzzled against Jinyoung's hand before turning his head and placing kisses on his palm. He turned back to look at the other man, eyes still half closed. “Are you leaving..?” He asked softly, voice gravelly from sleep.

“Mm…” Jinyoung replied simply, moving his hand further back to play with the tips of Mark's overgrown hair. The light elemental had taken Jinyoung’s offhand remark about growing his hair seriously and, after almost a year and a half, it was now resting at his shoulders. Jinyoung liked it. And Mark liked it when Jinyoung combed his fingers through it.

The king held the back of Mark's neck and leaned in, brushing their lips together in a lazy, sleepy kiss.

“Please stay…” Mark whispered. The amount of sadness and pain in his hushed voice split Jinyoung's heart straight down the middle.

Every time. This would happen every time. Mark would beg him not to go, unable to handle the thought of him spending who knows how long away from him, going to bed every night with his wife by his side. Ever since Mark found out that the queen was pregnant, he had been even more desperate to keep Jinyoung with him, convinced that the dark elemental would stop going to see him once his child was born.

It hurt to see how much Mark was hurting. And it never got any easier.

Jinyoung pursed his lips together before pulling away from his other half and getting to his feet, feeling the telltale tight muscles in his lower back. He got dressed in silence, making sure that his clothes were laid properly and his hair was immaculate. In the off chance that someone saw him, he couldn't risk looking like he'd just come out of a brothel.

Grabbing the little jar that he had left there months ago, he opened it and dabbed a bit of perfumed oil on his skin to cover up the fact that he smelled like his secret lover. Mark didn't like the perfume. He'd hadn’t thought about it until Jinyoung brought it up, but he got some sort of fucked up, smug validation from the thought of the king going home to his palace and his wife smelling like cheap oil and sex.

But Jinyoung had become far too calculated to risk that. Even if he did take a bath as soon as he got home every time, there was the tiniest chance that the queen would catch him before that. Even though he was pretty sure she – like everyone else – wouldn’t dare to go against her elemental king, he _would not_ risk it.

Fully dressed, as if he'd spent the past few hours in some exclusive meeting, he picked up the last two pieces of his outfit; his rings. His wedding ring and Jackson's ring.

He still wore the ring almost 24/7, only taking it off if he really had to. His wife didn't seem put off at all by it, despite knowing that it was an engagement ring from a former lover. Mark, on the other hand, always requested that Jinyoung remove both rings when they were together. Much like the first night they'd slept together, Mark didn't want the reminder that Jinyoung belonged to someone else.

The king put the jar back in its place and paused for a moment, looking at the man lying on the bed, taking in his form to keep in his memory until the next time they meet.

“I love you…” Mark spoke, sounding miserable but sincere.

Jinyoung had the urge to reply, but held his tongue, opting to just turn and walk down the stairs before he lost the will to leave altogether.

He would go back to his perfect life for a while; shaking hands, sitting in on negotiations, eating dinner with the palace officials and curling up with his wife in front of the fireplace. And for that time, things would be as normal as they could be.

Until the next time he found himself lying on the pile of blankets, looking out through the missing roof.

 

 

 

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, it's over.  
> Thank you to everyone who read this fic, I really hope you enjoyed it <3<3<3


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